Exempting 'all and sundry' from load-shedding impractical: Ramaphosa explains court appeal

If it were up to President Cyril Ramaphosa, he would shield schools, clinics, hospitals and police stations from rolling blackouts, but he has been informed that this would collapse the electricity grid.  

“Ideally, I would personally want all those hospitals and schools to be exempt, but from an engineering point of view, I am told, it is practically impossible to do. Now we are faced with a court judgment and the impracticality of it all," said Ramaphosa.

The president made the remarks during a question and answer session in parliament on Thursday. He explained that appealing the court order will bring to bear a better understanding of the engineering and impractical aspects of it all. 

“It’s not being done in an arrogant way or in a way where we are trying to second-guess the court, it’s being done to ensure that we save the grid, otherwise it would collapse if we were to implement that judgment in full," he told MPs.

TimesLIVE reported that on Monday, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan said his department would file an urgent appeal against the court order that government must ensure public hospitals, clinics, schools and police stations are shielded from load-shedding.

The interim order, handed down on Friday, and which must be implemented within 60 days, states the minister “shall take all reasonable steps ... to ensure there shall be sufficient supply or generation of electricity to prevent any interruption of supply as a result of load-shedding”. 

The judgment came after an application brought by 19 organisations, including opposition parties, NGOs and individuals. Numsa is one of the applicants. 

IFP MP Narend Singh asked Ramaphosa to explain why the government was challenging the court order.  

“I cannot understand honourable president that this decision of a full bench is being appealed by this government, given the fact that water is required by everyone in our land and when electricity is not available, water pump stations don’t work. 

“Given that we need police stations and hospitals to sustain our economy. I see Western Cape premier Allan Winde says it will be too costly, can we put a cost to these vital things that society requires?”  

Ramaphosa said the government had taken a decision to be practical about the matter.  

“We do need to deal with the practicality of that decision because the whole process of load-shedding is to manage the grid. When a number of units are not available to generate energy, you could be tempted to drive those remaining units to a point of breakdown. 

“You therefore need to manage it. The engineers tell me that you’d need to limit them (from) overheating and if you overheat them because you are driving them all at one go to generate the electricity at its maximum, then the grid could collapse.  

“You therefore need to feed the electricity in a number of areas on possibly sequential a basis and switch off other areas and switch other areas on, until you reach to a stage where all other units are able to give you the electricity we need.”  

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.