“Loadshedding an infringement of human rights”, says High court in exemption application

Johnathan Paoli

IN a landmark ruling on Friday, the North Gauteng High court has ordered the Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to ensure that all public health institutions such as hospitals and clinics, public schools and police stations are exempted from load shedding by the end of January next year.

Judge Norman Davis delivered a 66-page judgement on Friday afternoon in which he found that government had dismally failed the country and its people and declared that the government’s failure to protect Eskom from criminal activity and state capture, which were manifested in the energy crisis and in load shedding, constituted breaches to protect and promote the Bill of Rights.

Davis attributed the energy crisis to the government’s failure in the 1990s to open the energy sector to competition with the private sector and to timeously implement the Independent Power Producer procurement programme, as well as the delays in the