ACTIONSA was in court on Wednesday, 27 March, to oppose the government and Eskom's application for leave to appeal the ruling to exempt hospitals, state schools and police stations from load shedding.
ActionSA’s lawyers said on Wednesday it “rigorously” opposed government and Eskom’s appeal of the judgment handed down by the North Gauteng High Court in December 2023.
The judgment declared load shedding unconstitutional and ordered the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to ensure electricity supply doesn’t run out in schools, police stations and hospitals.
Mpho Madisha, ActionSA's Team FixSA member for energy and mineral resources, said: “We're here because the government and Eskom are appealing [the court ruling protecting critical services from load shedding]. We're happy with the case our legal representatives have presented and believe we stand a good chance.
“This is an important case that ensures that the most vulnerable institutions in our society get coverage. What we've heard from this case is concerning. We've heard that there’s no sense of prioritisation in what is key in our community.”
He said if the state was incapable of ensuring that blackouts don’t happen, it has to go a long way in showing that it can't make provisions for power not to be interrupted in key institutions.
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The party has criticised Eskom and the government for allegedly spending millions to appeal the judgment by the High Court which compelled them to provide uninterrupted electricity to schools, hospitals and police stations.
“In a landmark judgment handed down by the full bench of the North Gauteng High Court on 1 December 2023, the court ruled in favour of ActionSA's request that hospitals, schools and police stations be exempted from rolling blackouts,” he said.
“It's well documented how communities across South Africa have been adversely affected by load shedding when police stations' telephone lines don't work, hospitals fail to take care of sick patients when the lights go off, or studies are interrupted at schools when they fail to have access to power,” the party said.
They concluded that in the 17 years since load shedding was first introduced, the government party has yet to take action to address the energy crisis, and ActionSA will therefore force action in this regard.
