Lamola ‘in talks’ with electricity minister to exempt courts from load shedding

Lamola addressed the annual conference of the Law Society of South Africa on Friday.

He said the impact of load shedding on small law firms and the operation of the court have been severely impacted by the ongoing power cuts.

“It is an existential challenge that our president has identified as an existential crisis. But us running away from it, will not make the challenge go away. We must confront it and have the necessary discussions and engagements. 

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“They told me that it is affecting particularly the small law firms across the country, and I am aware of the impact it has on the operation hours of the courts. And it is against this backdrop that we are in engagements with the newly appointed minister of electricity to see if it's technically feasible to exempt courts from load shedding.” 

Lamola said there are also discussions with the Department of Public Works on the provision of alternative sources of energy. 

He said while some courts have generators, they are unable to cope when Eskom implements higher stages of load shedding.