https://newsletter.en.creamermedia.com
Business|Cutting|Power|Services
Business|Cutting|Power|Services
business|cutting|power|services

Sakeliga heads to SCA over power interruptions

27th May 2019

By: Tasneem Bulbulia

Senior Contributing Editor Online

     

Font size: - +

Business organisation Sakeliga will be heading to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), in Bloemfontein, to have the judgment that prohibits State-owned power utility Eskom from unlawfully interrupting the electricity supply to defaulting municipalities upheld.

On March 7, the North Gauteng High Court, in Pretoria, found in favour of Sakeliga, which was admitted as a ‘friend of the court’ to the proceedings initiated by Resilient Properties against Eskom, that the power utility first needs to exhaust all remedies available to it in accordance with the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, before it interrupts power supply to a defaulting municipality.

The failure by a municipality to pay for electricity provided by Eskom, while the municipality’s residents have paid for such services as invoiced, amounts to an intergovernmental dispute which should be dealt with in accordance with the Act, rather than Eskom arbitrarily cutting power as a debt collection measure to force municipalities to pay up, Sakeliga asserted in a statement issued on Monday.

Last week an appeal was also granted in favour of Resilient, which is seeking to have such interruptions declared unconstitutional.

Sakeliga would remain a ‘friend of the court’ in the proceedings to ensure that the progress already made against Eskom in this matter continues to be enforced and confirmed by the SCA, it stated.

“We are confident that our arguments in the High Court will be confirmed on appeal by the SCA in that Eskom first needs to exhaust all remedies available to it when an intergovernmental dispute of this nature arises,” commented Sakeliga legal practitioner Armand Greyling.

“It is in the interest of both justice and South Africa as a whole that clarity be given as to how Eskom can and should deal with defaulting municipalities, while residents of such municipalities have diligently paid their accounts for their electricity consumption.”

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

Flameblock
Flameblock

FlameBlock is a proudly South African company that engineers, manufactures and supplies fire intumescent and retardant products to the fire...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Rio-Carb
Rio-Carb

Our Easy Access Chute concept was developed to reduce the risks related to liner maintenance. Currently, replacing wear liners require that...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Photo of Martin Creamer
On-The-Air (15/11/2024)
15th November 2024 By: Martin Creamer

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.073 0.165s - 171pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now