Pretoria - More participants have joined the legal action in demand of a stable supply of electricity in the country to restore the economy, household functionality and individual technology use.
Initially, 10 entities – including political parties, civic organisations and businesses – appointed seven firms to institute legal action against Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Eskom CEO André de Ruyter.
But according to Eric Mabuza, from Eric Mabuza Attorneys, the number of participants in the action has since increased.
“The matter started with 10, but now we have received requests from more people and organisations committing to join the action and hold the government accountable,” Mabuza told the Pretoria News.
Mabuza said that this was a more direct approach to holding the executive to account, as other processes have yielded unsatisfactory results in the past.
“Processes are happening in Parliament and elsewhere, so this is but another way. There is no one set of mechanisms to hold the government to account. We only want the government to state under oath what their plans are and what has been going on,” he said.
The lawyers have confirmed that the letter of demand sent to Gordhan and De Ruyter had been received.
“We wouldn’t want to prejudice the process, so we will wait for their response, but as we stated in our letter, the matter will go to court on January 23 if there are no developments from the first step we took.”
UDM president Bantu Holomisa, who is among the initial participants in the legal action, said there were many reasons forwarded for Eskom’s failures but nothing concrete has been put on the table. He questioned the relationship between the Chinese company that was appointed to build power stations in South Africa and the ANC’s Chancellor House company.
“The experience we have is that the portfolio committees in Parliament, which are dominated by the ruling party, have taken resolutions in the past and summoned Eskom and the ministers responsible to come and account.
“After those hearings you never hear anything… After all, the majority party is very protective of its executive members,” Holomisa told SABC News.
The UDM leader said factionalism has also been mentioned in acts of sabotage at Eskom, but President Cyril Ramaphosa has done nothing about it.
“When are we taking these people straight to court? What if (this) is a continuation of the factions?
“We don’t know what is happening at Eskom (except) that the ANC joined hands with one of the companies, Hitachi, after they were given billions of rand to build these plants.
“They partnered and they got billions of their own. Those will be answered or ventilated in court, to say, ‘Tell us, Hitachi, how much did you give the ANC in this deal?’ Bear in mind that this money comes from the taxpayers," Holomisa said.
According to the letter of demand, Gordhan and De Ruyter have to explain the relationship between the country’s “shift from coal” and the overseas partners, especially following reports that US President Joe Biden had allegedly provided $8 billion (about R137bn) in loans to assist South Africa with its Just Energy Transition commitments.
“Our clients do not understand the nature of the commitment that the country has entered into with the US. This is particularly so because it has also been reported that South Africa’s coal exports have increased by 700%.
The letter also demonstrated the numerous problems arising from recurrent power blackouts, resulting in a violation of constitutional rights.
These include a dire lack of access to courts due to power blackouts that hit magistrate’s courts on a daily basis, the violation of the right to water and basic education, the right to proper health care – and the right to life.
Crime has been reported to be on the increase due to the power blackouts.
The letter further indicates that blackouts have resulted in businesses failing to plan and trade, given that equipment is often damaged from power surges.
“(We demand) that the state will develop and make publicly available a clear plan to end load shedding, which plan must include the resources available to ensure that it is realised.
“(We demand) that the 18.65% (electricity tariff increase) granted by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) will not be implemented pending the determination of the court challenge which our clients intend to institute … (and that) the state will commit to compensating everyone who has suffered quantifiable financial losses because of load shedding.
“In the event that the undertakings sought are not provided by January 20, 2023, we are instructed to inform you, as we hereby do, that application will be made to a court of competent jurisdiction to secure appropriate relief,” reads the letter of demand.
Pretoria News