The Congress of the People (COPE) has slammed the decision by Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan, to appeal the decision of the North Gauteng High Court last week.
The court ordered the government to ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity to all government health facilities, police stations and schools.
The interim order came after the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and others brought an application to the court, highlighting the constitutional and legal obligations of the government to provide electricity.
However, Gordhan’s office announced that government would appeal the decision.
COPE says Gordhan should rather focus on fixing Eskom than appealing the judgment.
Spokesperson Dennis Bloem says: “The government must stop wasting taxpayers’ money. This decision of Minister Pravin Gordhan to appeal the judgment of the High Court in Pretoria is totally uncalled for. The people of this country want to see the back of this devastating load shedding and are not interested in court cases. Every sector of society feels the impact of this devasting load shedding including the criminal justice system.”
“Not practical”
Meanwhile, Energy Expert Kgose Moleshe says exempting all schools, hospitals and police stations from rolling blackouts is simply not practical.
Moleshe says it will be almost impossible to implement the court judgment as this may increase the likelihood of load shedding for other entities.
More details in the report below:
