Solidarity cautions president about a possible state of disaster over energy crisis 

9 February 2023

Solidarity today warned Pres Cyril Ramaphosa in a cautionary note that it would litigate if the president, in his State of the Nation Address tonight, or on any other occasion, institutes a state of disaster due to the ongoing energy crisis.

According to Solidarity, there is not a single element of the energy crisis that has its origins in the limitation of state powers, and it is precisely the government’s jealous clinging to its monopoly in this sector that is the root cause of the crisis.

“The harsh reality is that existing legislation already provides for the emergency procurement of electricity. Minister Mantashe has already used the existing legislation in July 2020 to announce an emergency power procurement programme for emergency purchases. By a simple regulation the minister can fully stipulate how much power can be procured over which period. If the president is unhappy with the implementation of these instruments, then the appropriate route to be followed would rather be a letter of resignation from Minister Mantashe; not a declaration of a state of disaster,” Mulder put it.

According to Solidarity, under a state of disaster South African citizens will again be exposed to the abuse of power by a minister or a command council without those parties being held accountable whatsoever for the implementation of the regulations and restrictions they impose on people.

“A state of disaster grants abnormal powers for abnormal circumstances to the government. A government dare not have such powers for a day longer than is necessary. It should be remembered that those powers the government now wants to procure for itself are the very same powers used during a previous state of disaster to decide which shoes could be worn and they were the powers invoked to rule that hot food could not be sold. It was also during this abnormal state of the exercise of power that billions of rands worth of Covid-19 money was looted,” Connie Mulder, Head of the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) explained.

Solidarity furthermore contends that the country’s democratic and legal system would suffer major harm if the government succeeds to implement a state of disaster once again.

“The clear implication of such a move is that the ruling party sees all forms of the limitation of power as unfair obstacles. By this logic, the country’s problems can in fact be attributed to all the political, legislative and democratic institutions that, in normal circumstances, serve as checks against the abuse of power,” Mulder said. “The ruling party actually yearns for a totalitarian dispensation – one which is extended almost indefinitely and one in which there is almost no limit to the government’s authority, as was the case during the pandemic.”

“A state of disaster is meant for a disaster, not for poor governance. Disaster legislation can accomplish much but it cannot regulate getting rid of incompetence. Those who caused this disaster cannot now acquire all powers to solve it. The answer lies in less power for the government and more freedom for the private sector, Mulder concluded.

Issued by Connie Mulder, Head: Solidarity Research Institute, 9 February 2023