Ramokgopa: Eskom waiting on Presidential advice on load shedding in essential facilities case
The Pretoria High Court upheld a ruling that Eskom should provide uninterrupted power supply to essential facilities.
FILE: Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Picture: @Kgosientsho_R/X
JOHANNESBURG - Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom is awaiting legal advice from The Presidency after the Pretoria High Court upheld a ruling that Eskom should provide uninterrupted power supply to essential facilities.
Ramokgopa was speaking at Megawatt Park on Monday, where he gave an update on the implementation of the energy action plan.
Last week, the Pretoria High Court denied Eskom and government leave to appeal an earlier ruling that was handed down in December last year.
It was found that load shedding in schools, hospitals and other institutions that provide essential services is unconstitutional.
Ramokgopa said attempting to uphold this ruling would be unsustainable.
"The manner in which we are expected to execute could be expensive, unsustainable and we wanted to get clarity from the court, some degree of clarity what that judgement meant."
Ramokgopa further noted that the improvement of power supply in the country was due to different interventions with Eskom.
Businesses and households have been powered up for 54 consecutive days, making it the longest the country has been without load shedding since December 2021.
The minister added that ramped up maintenance had a positive impact.
He has also highlighted a decrease in the burning of diesel: "Same period 1st of April 2023 to the 16 of May 2023 we had burnt 5.2 billion rands worth of diesel, so we have seen a drop of 78%."