Court forces NERSA to act on Phalaborwa power supply

AfriForum’s Phalaborwa branch welcomes an important ruling in the Pretoria High Court ordering that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has 30 days to constitute a tribunal to investigate power supply in Phalaborwa.

This order was already set out in a draft order on 11 September this year but was only officially made an order of the court on 7 October. NERSA must now constitute a tribunal to investigate the Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality’s service standards and failure to comply with its license conditions.

This ruling follows years of meetings, written submissions and requests by AfriForum and Let’s Change Phalaborwa to the municipality and NERSA regarding the poor maintenance and unreliability of the area’s electrical network.

According to the court order, NERSA must, in terms of section 18(1) of the Electricity Regulation Act (4 of 2006), constitute a tribunal to consider allegations that the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality has failed to comply with its licence conditions and the National Rationalised Specification (NRS) 047-1:2002 minimum service quality standards. The court further ordered that NERSA pay the costs of the application.

“This ruling is a decisive victory for residents who have had to cope without reliable power for years due to poor maintenance and poor management. The court has made it clear that the regulator can no longer stand by and watch, but must actively intervene,” says Hendrik Kotze, AfriForum’s provincial coordinator for Limpopo.

This is the organisation’s third victory over NERSA in the past week after the organization was able to temporarily prevent a settlement between NERSA and Eskom and the Pretoria High Court ruled that NERSA must also fulfil its responsibility to the community in Rustenburg. Although AfriForum welcomes the ruling, the organization believes that it is unacceptable that communities have to turn to the courts to get NERSA to do its job.

Let’s Change Phalaborwa, which acted as applicant together with AfriForum, emphasises that sustained community pressure and due legal processes ultimately yield results. “Residents have met, gathered evidence and laid formal complaints. This order means that NERSA must now act and hold the municipality to account,” says Roger Ferguson of Let’s Change Phalaborwa.

What does the court order mean for Phalaborwa?

1. Regulator must enforce: NERSA is required to convene a tribunal and consider legal action within 30 days.
2. Municipal compliance under the spotlight: The investigation focuses on possible breaches of licence conditions and minimum service quality standards.
3. Costs order against NERSA: The court ordered NERSA to pay the application costs, a clear warning that failure to comply has consequences.

AfriForum and Let’s Change Phalaborwa will closely monitor the process to ensure that NERSA promptly complies with the court order, and will consider further legal action should the regulator or the municipality fail to take corrective steps.