- High-profile lawyers, leaders and major groups have issued a demand letter to Eskom’s CEO Andre de Ruyter and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
- Legal teams said they were directed by their clients to demand that the shedding stop with immediate effect.
- Eskom and Gordhan have until January 20 to respond to the letter and avoid legal action.
Several high-profile lawyers, leaders and non-profit organizations have threatened Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan with legal action for failing to provide a stable power supply to the country.
The letter sent to De Ruyter and Gordhan on Monday was addressed by Mabuza Abogados and at least six other law firms: Buthelezi Vilakazi Inc, Makangela Mtungani Inc, Mketsu & Associates Inc, Mphahlele & Masipa Inc, Madlanga & Partners Inc and Ntanga Nkuhlu Inc. Lawyers.
The legal team has been endorsed by UDM leader Bantu Holomisa, Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane, policy analyst Lukhona Mnguni, the IFP, the National Union of Metal Workers and several NPOs.
The legal team said they were directed by their clients to demand that the shedding be stopped with immediate effect and, if not, a full explanation as to why the government could not stop it.
Alternatively, they also demanded a specific schedule as to when load shedding would end and the reasons for the schedule.
They said the state must develop and make publicly available a clear plan to end load shedding, which must include the resources available to ensure it happens.
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Finally, the lawyers demanded that the 18.65% increase granted by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) not be implemented, pending the determination of the legal challenge that their clients intended to institute.
Eskom and Gordhan have until January 20 to respond to the letter and avoid legal action.
“If we are forced to start a process that we hope to avoid, the documents will be presented on January 23, 2023 to obtain an urgent measure,” the lawyers stated.
“It cannot be argued that the state, represented by the ministry of public enterprises and Eskom, has not taken any reasonable steps to provide vulnerable South Africans with adequate and reliable power, be it electricity or any other alternative form of energy.
Mmusi Maimané.
Images of Gallo Images of Brenton Geach/Gallo
“In doing so, the State has breached its duty to provide energy as required by the Constitution, national legislation and the contract.”
On Monday afternoon, Eskom announced that the Stage 4 load shedding would be implemented from 05:00 to 16:00 starting Tuesday, followed by the Stage 5 load shedding from 16:00 to 05:00 since Wednesday.
The embattled power company said that over the course of this week, 14 generators were expected to come back online, helping to ease pressure on the power system.
Eskom purchased an additional 50 million liters of diesel on January 6, 2023.
But the legal team said in its letter that the state had not managed the network responsibly, resulting in material violations of citizens’ constitutional rights.
“Eskom is a state body. The Constitutional Court has affirmed its role of supplying electricity to guarantee the economic and social well-being of the people.
The leader of the United Democratic Movement, Bantu Holomisa.
Images of Gallo/Frennie Shivambu
“He further stated that Eskom cannot unilaterally reduce the bulk electricity it supplies. This decision not only applies to the supply of electricity to municipalities, but also to Eskom’s general obligation to transmit and deliver electricity to the nation as a whole.” .
Since Eskom implemented Stage 6 load shedding last Wednesday, many small businesses have buckled under its pressure, courts have been paralyzed, and hospitals, schools and homes have been left without stable power for between eight and 12 hours a day.
According to lawyers, some of the biggest problems caused by load shedding and leading to the closure of MSMEs included lack of internet or Wi-Fi, staff morale and productivity, out-of-service ATMs, the loss of schedule due to unplanned outages. and the inability to trade.
“Small businesses report that load shedding is hard on their operations and can only be mitigated with long-term solutions, like installing solar panels and generators, devices they can’t afford.”
Some MSMEs have also reported that their equipment has been damaged due to power surges.
In addition to its impact on businesses, traffic has also worsened since most traffic lights stopped working during the freight cut and safety concerns were raised.
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“Since security systems go down when it does, it leaves businesses vulnerable to all sorts of attacks and has even caused businesses to get more insurance coverage,” the letter said.
“We are told that the damage is due only to unreliable electricity supply and prolonged power outages caused by the increasing number of hours per day without power.”
Lawyers argued that the loadslide also disrupted teaching and learning after it was reported that some schools had not been built in a way that allowed natural light to flow into the classroom.
Therefore, without generators, many schools and students were left in the dark.
The legal team argued that the load shed had significantly affected hospitals and healthcare workers. It also contributed to the backlog of some surgical procedures.
“When load reduction occurs, many public hospitals lose the ability to provide adequate healthcare services. Although many have generators to provide backup power, it is still not a sustainable option.
“Frequent power outages affect medical equipment as well, as healthcare equipment has been upgraded and requires an uninterruptible power source, they get damaged when continuous power outages occur.
“Consumables such as pharmaceuticals, medicines and vaccines that require cold storage are also a concern, as they cannot be kept at the proper temperature during load shedding.”
The safety of healthcare workers was also compromised because those who finished late or started in the early hours of the morning were vulnerable to criminals.
Municipalities also fought rampant cable theft, with cases rising sharply over the festive period due to loss of cargo.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa called an urgent meeting with opposition political leaders on Sunday night as part of the government’s plan to address the ongoing Eskom crisis.
At least three political leaders, who were at the meeting, told News24 that the latest proposals in the government’s latest attempt to tackle the energy crisis included a plan for the National Treasury to take over Eskom’s debt.
To improve generation capacity, which appears to be the major factor contributing to the current power shortage, Ramaphosa and Gordhan are said to have agreed that Eskom’s debt, which exceeds R400 billion, will be transferred to the National Treasury.
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“There was a consensus that the debt is shifted to the Treasury because whenever there is a cash flow problem at Eskom, it is the planned maintenance that suffers,” Al Jama-Ah leader Ganief Hendricks told News24.
He added that while Ramaphosa said it would benefit the country if the Treasury took over the debt, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana would make the final decision.
Hendricks said Gordhan had also proposed that each province have its own network instead of the entire country depending on one.
“[H]We made a proposal that there should be mini-grids…so that if one collapses like now, there are eight others that are running,” Hendricks said.
The plan was to group around 2,000 municipalities across the country into regions and put them in charge of different networks.
Speaking to News24, energy economist Lungile Mashele said the nine-grid proposal was feasible as many countries run multiple grids.
However, he was quick to add that upgrading transmission capacities would not help as the country was still struggling with generation capacity.
“You can see a lot of grids, but if there’s nothing reaching that grid, this won’t help,” Mashele said.
Another shortcoming of the proposal, according to Mashele, is that it could create a situation where those who can generate electricity can transmit it through a possibly privatized network, and this could lead to uneven power outages between provinces.
Another proposal was for Eskom to be granted a wholesale license to buy diesel, two political leaders who preferred to remain anonymous told News24.
They said Gordhan called for closer supervision of how the electric power company buys diesel, adding that the country could not afford to pay more than retail prices for diesel.
In December, the power company said it had spent R11 billion on diesel in just 10 months and asked for another R20 billion for more diesel.
