Eskom must provide a schedule for resolving load shedding and repeal a 19% tarrif hike – a legal threat

As blackouts devastate the country, opposition leaders and South Africa’s largest labour union say they’re preparing a lawsuit against the head of the state-owned power utility and a government official who controls it.

The so-called demand letter, which threatens a lawsuit if the government does not take specified actions within the next few days, piles more pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Already, the situation has led him to postpone a trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos in order to speak with industry and labour leaders at home.

The letter, a copy of which was acquired by Bloomberg News, requests that Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. CEO André de Ruyter and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan cease the power outages or provide a timeframe for doing so, as well as reverse the utility’s almost 19% pricing hike.

If they do not agree to do so by January 20, they will face legal action demanding compensation for the harm caused by the outages by January 23, according to the paper.

South Africans are presently experiencing around 10 hours of daily power outages. Last year, there were 205 days of blackouts due to Eskom’s failure to properly manage its aged network of coal-fired reactors.

Signatories to the demand letter include the United Democratic Movement, Build One South Africa, the Inkatha Freedom Party, and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa. Irvin Jim, the general secretary of that 338,000-member labour organisation, verified receipt of the paper.

“The South African economy is predicted to show a radical decline,” the groups said in the letter, which detailed the impact on everything from businesses to schools and hospitals.

“We demand “that the state will commit to compensate everyone who has suffered quantifiable financial losses because of load-shedding,” they said, using a local term for power cuts.

Eskom representatives did not react promptly to text messages and emails requesting comment, and a spokeswoman for Gordhan, the minister in charge of public enterprises, said he would answer on Tuesday.

According to persons familiar with the conversations, who requested not to be identified because the sessions were private, labour leaders cautioned the president during Monday’s meeting that the outages threatened undermining recent advances in economic growth and jobs. According to the report, officials did not give any substantial new suggestions for resolving the problem.

According to Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, the conversations were mostly productive.

“Business and labour came forward with ideas, concerns and an overwhelming desire to work closely with the government in finding solutions to the current energy crisis,” Magwenya said in a statement responding to queries about the meeting.

Meanwhile, Eskom’s board of directors stated at the meeting that the company will be able to increase the average share of Eskom’s generating capacity available to supply power to 65% by the end of next year and 70% the following year, up from approximately half presently.