A recent Eskom court ruling is facing major backlash.
If the government is to implement a new court ruling ordering it to provide alternative power supplies and diesel for generators to clinics, hospitals, police stations and schools – taxpayers could be called on to pay more, reports theMinister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan was ordered by the Pretoria High Court on Friday to “take all reasonable steps within 60 days” to stabilise power supply to certain institutions during load shedding.
On top of that, the court found that the government had repeatedly gone against its constitutional and legal obligations to provide adequate healthcare, security and education due to continual rolling blackouts. The department of public enterprises and the office of the electricity minister are both ‘studying’ the recent ruling and will respond at a later time, reported the Sunday Times.Court proceedings followed an application made by labour unions and civil society organisations that demanded the exemption of small businesses and agriculture.
According to the publication, Wayne Duvenage, the CEO of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse , said that the judgment would not achieve much.“It’s not just the generators; it’s the diesel. It will cost the taxpayer a lot because general taxes fund the hospitals and police stations. Most of these hospitals already have generators.”
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