Success in DA’s High Court case - Electricity Minister’s visit to Lichtenburg a political ploy to save face

24 August 2023

Eskom late last night conceded to Part A of the DA and the Ditsobotla Dienste-vereeniging’s urgent court application to the Pretoria High Court, and is now an order of court. See court order here.

In short, Eskom will not suspend electricity supply to Lichtenburg for extended periods of time other than for maintenance purposes, as per the 2017 Mahikeng High Court judgement. In the event that any maintenance may extend over a 24-hour period, Eskom would be obliged to submit to the DA, the Ditsobotla Dienste-vereeniging and the Pretoria High Court a detailed report and timeline for repairs as well as to undertake all measures to limit the impact of electricity supply downtime as per our notice of motion. See notice of motion here.

The nub of our court application in Part B, dealing with Eskom’s unlawful decision to exploit the replacement of the vandalised transformer as a debt recovery strategy against the Ditsobotla Local Municipality’s R1 billion debt will be heard at a later date. Eskom continues to oppose this part of our High Court application, but we are confident in the merits of our case.

The DA notes Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s unplanned visit to Lichtenburg today to engage residents and stakeholders on short- and medium-term measures to limit the intensity of loadshedding.

Interestingly, Minister Ramakgopa, during his engagement, rejected Eskom’s unlawful debt recovery strategy in line with the DA’s maintained position.

Minister Ramokgopa’s visit to Lichtenburg was nothing but a political ploy. Typical of ANC politicians, Ramakgopa is trying to save face after the fact and talk about possible solutions to the suffering people have endured because of the ANC government’s failures.

Minister Ramakgopa informed the meeting that he did not want to meet with them at the start of the crisis, because he wants to engage them while the lights are on. As a minister of government, it is his responsibility to citizens to be present when things are tough and not only when everything is fine. That is the mark of true leadership.

Ditsobotla is ANC governed. Eskom is managed by the ANC in national government. Ramakgopa is an ANC minister. The ANC is the problem. The ANC cannot fix what they have broken.

The DA is the solution. We need to retire the ANC from government in 2024 so that we can begin to rebuild what the ANC has destroyed.

Issued by Leon Basson, DA North West Provincial Leader, 24 August 2023