Energy: ‘Targeted power cuts’ face legal action threat

Implementing load reduction is one of the few options available to Eskom to act against electricity users and municipalities that owe the power utility money. However, a Business Day report notes the practice punishes the innocent along with those who are guilty of non-payment. Civil society organizations have now threatened to take court action against Eskom should it persist with what they claim is illegal implementation of ‘targeted power cuts’. But Eskom CEO André de Ruyter said that civil society must take action against dysfunctional municipalities to make them accountable. Sakeliga said in a statement that illegal load reduction refers to a practice in terms of which Eskom cuts electricity supply completely on targeted feeding lines for hours at a time. Though the law provides for a form of load reduction, this may never entail a complete cessation of electricity supply, according to Sakeliga. ‘Eskom is acting illegally by completely curbing electricity supply on targeted lines, and in many cases not providing notice in advance,’ the organisation said. Farmers and small businesses in rural areas in Northwest and Limpopo are among those worst affected. ‘The situation is totally unfair,’ said Bennie van Zyl, GM of the farmers’ organisation TLU SA. ‘The impact on a farmer regardless of what he or she farms with is substantial and extensive. There is an immediate loss of production if the farmer cannot complete irrigation cycles.’

De Ruyter said that in cases where Eskom resorts to load reduction due to outstanding debt, it tries to ‘act as fairly as possible’. Load reduction, said De Ruyter, who was speaking at the annual conference of the provincial farmers’ organisation Agri Limpopo, was implemented when municipalities or users in certain areas failed to pay Eskom. ‘It is an unfortunate phenomenon, but given that municipalities owe Eskom about R49bn, this is one of the ways in which we can try to address outstanding debt.’ The Business Day report say local authorities must be held accountable, according to De Ruyter. ‘Local government has become dysfunctional in many municipal areas across SA, and this is where civil society must assert itself and ensure that there is accountability for elected officials that collect money for electricity usage, but then fail to pay it over to Eskom,’ he said. But, Sakeliga said that Eskom was following the path of least resistance by subjecting paying end users to electricity interruptions under the guise of load reduction, rather than dealing with underlying problems.