Cape Town — President Cyril Ramaphosa was studying a judgement from the Gauteng High Court to exempt schools, hospitals, clinics, and police stations from load shedding.
Ramaphosa said he was studying the judgement with the affected departments and will make an announcement on the matter in due time, the Presidency said.
Minister of Electricity, Kgotsientso Ramokgopa, was given until the end of January 2024 to end load shedding at public facilities after the government was taken to court by UDM and Mmusi Maimane, IOL reported.
“The Minister of Electricity is ordered to take all reasonable steps by no later than January 31, 2024, whether in conjunction with Eskom and other organs of state or not, to ensure that there shall be be sufficient supply or generation of electricity to prevent any interruption of supply as a result of load shedding,” the judgement read.
The Presidency notes High Court judgement on load shedding casehttps://t.co/WhqgRrsLNU
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) December 1, 2023
According to Judge Norman Davis, this order was “just and equitable”, once the court had determined that load shedding breached several human rights, TimesLIVE reported.
The court also ruled that load shedding was a breach to the rights to human dignity, life, freedom and security of the person, to an environment that was not harmful to people’s health and wellbeing, the right of access to healthcare services, food, and water and the right to basic education.
He said the court was “mindful” of the separation of powers and that orders which implicate budgets of organs of state should be exercised sparingly.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
