ActionSA was in court on Wednesday opposing the government and Eskom's application for leave to appeal the ruling to exempt hospitals, state schools and police stations from load-shedding.

Last year the party won its case in the North Gauteng High Court to declare load-shedding unconstitutional.

However, the state sought to appeal sections of the ruling, saying the judgment was “too vague”.

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba criticised Eskom, the president and the electricity minister for recklessly spending taxpayers' money to appeal the outcome instead of addressing the concerns raised by the court ruling.

“Load-shedding infringes on the basic constitutional rights of South Africans and protecting the most vulnerable against the power crisis through exempting schools, police stations and hospitals. It is our duty to protect these crucial services and it is concerning that the president, the minister and Eskom do not care.

“It is well documented how communities in South Africa have been adversely affected by load-shedding when police stations’ telephone lines don’t work, hospitals fail to take care of sick patients when the lights go off or studies are interrupted at schools when they have no access to power.”

The party said load-shedding was one of the biggest obstacles to job creation with thousands of small businesses forced to close while crime spikes during load-shedding.

“Our children are sent home when schools cannot operate without power and are left without day care and feeding programmes. Hospitals and clinics are unable to save lives when the lights go out. This is unacceptable.

“We will continue to do everything in our power to protect the most vulnerable South Africans from the failures of the governing party and will take whatever steps necessary to ensure the government is held accountable and keep the state accountable for its ongoing failures.”

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