Out of frustration with the country’s recurring blackouts, 19 claimants, including opposition parties, filed a lawsuit to hold the ANC-led government and President Cyril Ramaphosa responsible for the country’s electrical issue.
Because of the gravity of the situation, they want it heard at the High Court.
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In response to the court case, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the two domains of government (provincial and national) are not bound to provide individuals with energy and that it is not within their authority to offer what they do not have.
The United Democratic Movement and others filed a lawsuit against the ANC-led government, claiming that their handling of the country’s electrical issue was illegal, incompetent, and an infringement of human rights.
Ramaphosa emphasised in an opposing affidavit that the three domains of government are not constitutionally bound to provide power. According to Ramaphosa, they are not in violation of the Constitution and cannot be held culpable for municipalities’ failure to provide dependable electricity.
“In terms of part B of schedule, 4 to the Constitution, electricity, and gas reticulation is a competence of local government. It is now accepted that municipalities are in law required to provide water and electricity to their people as a matter of public duty,” Ramaphosa said.
In the affidavit, Ramaphosa said, “Accordingly, if municipalities do not for one reason or another supply electricity to their people, the constitution does not say that the president must go down to the local government and do it.”
He went on to explain that while the president’s best efforts may not have yielded the expected outcomes, this does not imply that the president has ‘failed to uphold, defend, and respect the constitution as the supreme law of the republic,’ as the applicants claim.
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Municipalities, on the other hand, lack the essential capacity to supply energy in situations when Eskom has declared that load-shedding must be applied.
Ramaphosa expressed regret that the applicants in the case did not include municipalities as respondents so that they, too, could have a say in the matter. The case will be heard in the Johannesburg High Court on March 20th.
Out of frustration with the country’s recurring blackouts, 19 claimants, including opposition parties, filed a lawsuit to hold the ANC-led government and President Cyril Ramaphosa responsible for the country’s electrical issue.
Because of the gravity of the situation, they want it heard at the High Court.
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In response to the court case, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the two domains of government (provincial and national) are not bound to provide individuals with energy and that it is not within their authority to offer what they do not have.
The United Democratic Movement and others filed a lawsuit against the ANC-led government, claiming that their handling of the country’s electrical issue was illegal, incompetent, and an infringement of human rights.
Ramaphosa emphasised in an opposing affidavit that the three domains of government are not constitutionally bound to provide power. According to Ramaphosa, they are not in violation of the Constitution and cannot be held culpable for municipalities’ failure to provide dependable electricity.
“In terms of part B of schedule, 4 to the Constitution, electricity, and gas reticulation is a competence of local government. It is now accepted that municipalities are in law required to provide water and electricity to their people as a matter of public duty,” Ramaphosa said.
In the affidavit, Ramaphosa said, “Accordingly, if municipalities do not for one reason or another supply electricity to their people, the constitution does not say that the president must go down to the local government and do it.”
He went on to explain that while the president’s best efforts may not have yielded the expected outcomes, this does not imply that the president has ‘failed to uphold, defend, and respect the constitution as the supreme law of the republic,’ as the applicants claim.
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Municipalities, on the other hand, lack the essential capacity to supply energy in situations when Eskom has declared that load-shedding must be applied.
Ramaphosa expressed regret that the applicants in the case did not include municipalities as respondents so that they, too, could have a say in the matter. The case will be heard in the Johannesburg High Court on March 20th.