By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
In a landmark judgement on Friday Afternoon, the North Gauteng high court ruled that load shedding was unconstitutional as it infringes on the basic rights of South Africans.
Judge Norman Davis delivered a 66-page judgment on Friday afternoon ,in which he found that government had dismally failed the country and its people.
He declared that government’s failure to protect Eskom from criminal activity and state capture, which were manifested in the energy crisis and in load shedding, constituted breaches to protect and promote the Bill of Rights.
Judge Davis attributed the energy crisis to government’s failure in the 1990s to open the energy sector to competition with the private sector and to timeously implement the Independent Power Producer procurement programme, as well as the delays in the decision to build Medupi and Kusile power stations.
He said it was specifically declared that these breaches constituted unjustified infringements enshrined in the Constitution. These included the right to human dignity, the right to life and the right to freedom and security.
The court application was launched by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa); the United Democratic Movement (UDM), the Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (Haitu); Build One SA (Bosa), the IFP; Saftu and Democracy in Action.
The applicants submitted that the manner in which the government had responded to the crisis of load shedding was unconstitutional and breached several constitutional rights.
They argued that load shedding had become a pressing human rights concern. The government’s response had undermined the fundamental rights of citizens.
Judge Davis ordered the minister of electricity to by the end of January ensure that all public health institutions such as hospitals and clinics, public schools and police stations, including satellite stations, are exempted from load shedding.
Meanwhile ActionSA said it welcomed a ‘landmark’ judgment in the North Gauteng high court on Friday, declaring that load shedding was a result of government failures and was unconstitutional as it infringes on the basic rights of South Africans.
ActionSA chairperson, Michael Beaumont, said the court also ruled in favour of ActionSA’s request that hospitals, schools, and police stations be exempted from experiencing rolling blackouts.
“The court furthermore ruled that load-shedding today is a result of the government’s failure to open the electricity generation market, implement the Independent Power Procurement Program, delays in constructing Medupi and Kusile, and failure to protect Eskom from criminal activity, corruption, and state capture,” Beaumont said.
He said the ruling was a step in the right direction to protect South Africans from the harm caused by the ruling party due to their failure to solve load-shedding since it first began in 2007.
“Load shedding remains one of our biggest inhibitors to job creation with thousands of small businesses forced to close as a result while incidents of crime have proven to spike when load shedding occurs,” he said.
The Presidency said, it is studying the judgement and will in due course pronounce on further steps on the matter.