Power crisis a violation of rights, says Zille
The Democratic Alliance says the government should be the one defending citizens’ rights when they are being violated by Eskom.
The party turned to the High Court in Pretoria on Monday, asking it to declare the recent electricity tariff increases invalid and load shedding unconstitutional.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa earlier this year gave Eskom the go-ahead to push up prices by 30% over the next two years.
The first increase of 18.65% came into effect on 1 April 2023.
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The DA has dismissed this as ridiculous, saying South Africans are paying more for electricity that’s not even available.
"We are here in court today [Monday] because our purpose is to ensure that the rest of South Africa is not left behind. These crucial court cases are to ensure that responsibility for this crisis is acknowledged and laid where it must be, because that has crucial consequences,” DA Federal Chairperson Helen Zille said.
"You've seen that load shedding has [caused] economic collapse; economic collapse causes massive unemployment, and in that context, the government still sees fit to raise the electricity tariff."
Zille says the situation is unacceptable.
"We have done several things. The first of those things is to seek a declarative from the court that it is a complete violation of the human rights of South Africans to face this electricity crisis and the constant load shedding that it has brought with it.
If you look at Chapter 2 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution, you will see that just about every one of those rights is violated by the electricity crisis in South Africa."
