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News24 reports that Solidarity is going to court to launch a legal challenge to the declaration of a state of disaster to deal with the electricity crisis.
In a statement on Tuesday, the trade union said the electricity crisis did not meet the definition of a disaster in terms of the relevant legislation. During his state of the nation address (SONA) last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that a state of disaster had been declared and that he would be appointing a minister of electricity in the presidency. However, the chief executive of Solidarity, Dirk Hermann, said the government itself was the cause of the electricity crisis. He stated: “It (the government) cannot declare itself a disaster, thereby obtaining extraordinary powers to address the disaster. Disaster legislation is not meant for government failure. We do not have short memories either. We remember the abuse of power during the Covid-19 state of disaster and how disaster funds were looted. A state of disaster to deal with the electricity crisis is a disaster." He explained that a state of disaster was intended as a temporary intervention – and should only be used when no other option was available. "This means that, if another legislative instrument is available to deal with this state of exception, it must be used," he argued. "All the measures announced in President Ramaphosa's SONA can be implemented by using other statutory instruments. If other instruments do exist, disaster legislation does not apply. If this state of disaster is allowed to continue, a dangerous precedent will be set,” Hermann said
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jeanette Chabalala at News24
- Read Solidarity’s press statement on the above matter at Solidarity News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page