Johannesburg - UDM leader General Bantu Holomisa, One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane, and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) secretary-general Irvin Jim, acting on behalf of other opposition political parties and civil rights organisations, have filed papers with the North Gauteng High Court in a bid to interdict Eskom from implementing the recent 18.65% tariff hike granted by the National Energy Regulator (Nersa).
The three leaders addressed a media briefing at the Hilton Hotel on Monday, where they spelt out the process that will result in a court hearing set for February 28, 2023.
Holomisa said it is clear that President Cyril Ramaphosa, Pravin Gordhan, and Gwede Mantashe have failed to intervene in the country’s energy crisis, which started over 14 years ago.
“If Pravin Gordhan says we should give the government time, how much time does he need because we have had load shedding for over 14 years now? Even the president has cancelled many trips, saying, ‘Watch this space: we will solve this problem’.
“Ramaphosa himself was chairperson of the war room on Eskom. So when they say they need more time, how much more time do they need? Another 14 years? Why should we continue to give them time when they have clearly failed to resolve the Eskom crisis?” Holomisa said in response to a recent letter by Minister of State Enterprises Pravin Gordhan.
Last week, Gordhan, in response to a letter written to him by the three leaders, said he needed more time to respond to the issues they had raised.
Holomisa said that they have filed papers with the high court and expect all respondents cited in the court papers to explain their intentions to resolve the energy crisis, which has seen the country fall into Stage 4 and 6 load shedding since the latter part of last year, and the early part of this year.
On Sunday, Eskom announced that the country would face the possibility of enduring permanent Stage 2 and 3 load shedding for two years to allow Eskom to undertake the maintenance of its power stations, which have not been operating optimally.
Irvin Jim, on the other hand, claimed that Eskom was deliberately collapsed and destroyed to ensure privatisation of the power utility and transfer of generation to IPPs.
“Pravin Gordhan has been overseeing the collapse of SEOs and the introduction of IPPs. I am sure everyone is waiting for the president to restructure his Cabinet. However, with Cyril Ramaphosa, I can’t say, as I am sitting here and with my experience with him, that I would be surprised if we were to wake up and both the departments of Minerals and Energy are combined, with Pravin as the minister. That is the kind of arrogance we are dealing with here,” Jim said.
Holomisa said the intention of the court application was to ensure that key infrastructure such as public hospitals, public clinics, schools, police stations, and other key sectors of the economy are exempted from load shedding, as this has resulted in the collapse of the country’s economy.
Maimane said that as leaders of society who have the best interests of the country’s citizens at heart, they are confident that this court action would yield results. He said those who want to take to the streets to protest against Eskom and the government’s mediocrity in handling the country are welcome to march. He also urged South Africans to support the court action when it resumes on February 28, 2023.
“We are confident that this court action and the judiciary will act in the best interests of the country. We therefore call upon ordinary South Africans and the people of this country to come through on February 28, 2023. Every single action, whether through this process or the planned march has a cumulative effect to effect change and result in the demise of the walls of Jericho… This is how Jacob Zuma was eventually removed,” Maimane said.
The Star