AFP
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.
Party 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.
He said the judgment further stated that load-shedding was a result of the government's failure to open the electricity generation market, among other reasons.
He said according to the ruling, the Minister of Electricity was ordered to take all reasonable steps to prevent the interruption of electricity supply as a result of load shedding to public health establishments, including schools, hospitals, and police stations.
"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.
There were 19 applicants listed on the court documents, ranging from political parties, trade union federations, and private individuals, while the nine respondents included the government, several government ministers, Eskom, and the Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramakgopa.
