A dog barks from the perimeter wall of a house in the neighbourhood where employees of the Eskom Power Plant live in Hendrina on February 22, 2018. – The name of Eskom, Africa’s largest electricity company, has become synonymous with the worst corruption scandals in South Africa and the utility could well become the final nail in the political coffin of President Jacob Zuma (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
Government terminates electricity State of Disaster following legal challenge
Government has decided to terminate the State of Disaster over the electricity crisis following legal challenges by OUTA and other groups.
A dog barks from the perimeter wall of a house in the neighbourhood where employees of the Eskom Power Plant live in Hendrina on February 22, 2018. – The name of Eskom, Africa’s largest electricity company, has become synonymous with the worst corruption scandals in South Africa and the utility could well become the final nail in the political coffin of President Jacob Zuma (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
The Office of the State Attorney confirmed that the South African government has decided to terminate the State of Disaster over the electricity crisis on Wednesday, 5 April.
STATE OF DISASTER WITHDRAWN
The move comes after groups, including the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), took to court to challenge the implementation of the State of Disaster.
“We are instructed that the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, in consultation with the relevant Cabinet members, has decided to terminate the state of disaster in accordance with section 27(5)(b) of the Disaster Management Act, 57 of 2002 and to repeal the State of Disaster Regulations promulgated in Government Gazette No. 48145, GNR 3089 on 27 February 2023,” said the Office of the State Attorney.
The Office added that the Head of the National Disaster Management Centre no longer views the electricity crisis as a national disaster.
The COGTA Minister and Head of the National Disaster Management Centre will confirm the decisions in the Government Gazette on Wednesday.
The Office said the relief sought by the litigants is moot given the withdrawal.
On Wednesday, OUTA said its legal team was informed of the government’s decision to revoke the State of Disaster.
The organisation said it challenged the SoD because it was used “as an excuse for corruption” in the past.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, withdrew the exemption that said Eskom did not need to declare irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in its financial statements.
READ MORE: Godongwana withdraws Eskom’s exemption from declaring irregular expenditure
