Parliament on Monday heard how over 400 courts across the country can not function when there’s load shedding.
Most of those impacted are in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State.
In response to a written parliamentary question from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola confirmed that only 139 of the country’s more than 500 hundred courts could continue with business when the power goes off.
Last week, Lamola indicated that he would ask new Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to consider exempting the country’s courts from load shedding.
In a written reply to Parliament, Lamola said that he was working hard to minimize the impact of the power outages on the administration of justice.
The department plans to install 80 generators at various courts.
Minister Lamola said that the department had also embarked on a pilot programme to install inverters and solar power through a delegation received from the department of public works.
The minister said that he wrote to both his counterparts – the ministers of cooperative governance and public enterprises – to consider not turning off the power at courthouses.
In the meantime, emergency lights have been procured for holding cells and other dark areas within court buildings.
In the Free State, only eight of its 87 courts function during load shedding.
In Mpumalanga, only two courts have an alternative power source.
In KwaZulu-Natal, only 19 out of 102 courts can keep the lights on during load shedding.
-EWN
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