Court upholds order: Ramokgopa must protect hospitals, schools from load shedding

The Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has again been told by a court that it is his constitutional duty to shield all public schools, police stations, and hospitals from load shedding after his right to appeal against a ruling last December was denied. 

A full bench of the Gauteng North High Court in Pretoria ruled on Thursday that the court's December judgment that Ramokgopa should "take all reasonable steps" to ensure the "sufficient supply of electricity" to public institutions would stand. 

The December judgment said that the state's actions caused the load-shedding crisis and breached several sections of the Constitution. The state's actions also "infringed numerous rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights on a continuing basis.