The UDM has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s response to the court papers filed by the party and other interested parties regarding Eskom and load shedding, where he said municipalities were responsible for the provision of electricity to the people ‘as a matter of public duty’ and that ‘this duty does not lie with the president or any of the national departments cited herein as respondents’.
The UDM and other concerned parties took the government and Eskom to court regarding the provision of sustained, reliable electricity to all South Africans in line with their rights and basic service delivery needs last year.
President Ramaphosa, Eskom and others have filed responding affidavits to the court papers and on 20 March 2023 a full bench will hear the case in the High Court in Pretoria.
In his response to Ramaphosa’s assertions in the court papers, the UDM leader Bantu Holomisa accused the president of hiding behind legal technicalities and claiming he has no power over service delivery of electricity.
“Notwithstanding Mr Ramaphosa’s apparent callous response and assertion that he has no power, what the President seemingly forgets (and hiding behind legal technicalities), is that municipalities are not the ones that determine the national loadshedding prerogatives, nor even the need for loadshedding to start off with.
The UDM said after its meeting on Saturday that looked at other service delivery issues such as road infrastructure in Mthatha, the Eastern Cape including loadshedding, the party decided it will march on 20 March in Mtata.
However, Holomisa said the Gauteng UDM members will also be in Pretoria on 20 March, joining other parties picketing outside the High Court.
“Remember we have councillors in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal, Western Cape and the North West”.