- Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, has applied for leave to appeal an order issued in May that requires Eskom to take all necessary steps to ensure that hospitals, clinics, schools, and police stations are spared from electricity disruptions during load shedding.
- Gordhan argues that the order is impossible to implement and is too vague, given the limited capacity of Eskom’s power grid and the high demand from other sectors.
- He also contends that the order undermines the authority of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), which has the power to set load shedding schedules.
- The application for leave to appeal will be heard in the High Court in Pretoria on June 2.
- The May order was issued in response to an urgent application brought by trade union Solidarity, which argued that essential services should not be subjected to the same load shedding schedule as other sectors.
- Eskom has warned that the order could lead to even longer and more frequent power cuts for businesses and households, as the power utility would have to create a separate schedule for essential services.
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