Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, says his department will be appealing the judgement on load shedding, handed down by the North Gauteng High Court last Friday.
The judgement ordered that hospitals, schools and police stations be exempted from load shedding and also gave the Public Enterprises Minister 60 days to ensure that those public facilities have sufficient electricity supply.
This judgment came after an application was brought by 19 organisations, including opposition parties, NGOs and labour unions.
Gordhan said the judgement raises serious concerns about Eskom’s efforts to ensure stability of the national grid in the context of the current power constraints.
The country has been on Stage 6 load shedding for several weeks. Reports of Stage 8 power cuts have also started to emerge.
“The department has studied the ruling and has determined through legal advice that the prudent step to take is to lodge an appeal to set aside the ruling and allow for the ongoing efforts to end load shedding to proceed without putting undue risk on the country’s grid infrastructure,” Gordhan said.
