With all the power problems being experienced in South Africa, is it right for Eskom to be sued? On Tuesday, the Democratic Alliance said that the government should tell people about its position with regards to the losses being incurred due to the current power losses.
It is no secret that businesses are suffering from the loss in electricity but can they now go ahead and sue or claim their losses from the government? Looking at it from a general consumer point of view, consumers are experiencing losses when the power goes. For example, when the power goes and then comes back, if one is not vigilant enough to switch off all appliances and pull the plug out of the socket, the appliance can be damaged when the power comes back. I am not an electricity expert and do not know what causes this to happen but from experiences I have seen appliances being damaged when the power comes back. Further more, food maybe damaged if the power is gone for too long. Fridges can only be cold for so long without power and once they start to get warm all the perishable foods in the fridge will go bad thus resulting in further losses for the consumer.
Section 12 of the Electricity Act provides that any consumer may institute a claim for damages against a licence holder if such licence holder neglected to fulfil its obligations as set out in the licence.
It now remains to be seen how the government is going to deal with this if consumers take the Electricity Act seriously.
