Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health and the country’s biggest private health-care providers are in ongoing discussions with Eskom to exclude hospitals and clinics from the devastating impact of load shedding.
This comes as the UDM and 18 others are due to meet the power utility in the Pretoria High Court later this month, with the group wanting the court to declare the government’s response to load shedding unconstitutional as it breaches a number of human rights.
They have asked that certain sectors, such as safety and health care, be exempted from load shedding. The case is set to be heard on March 20.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been slammed for his opposing affidavit in the matter. Ramaphosa said in the affidavit that the three spheres of government were not required by the Constitution to exercise powers that were not vested in them and insisted that municipalities were obliged to fulfil these constitutional obligations.
The Presidency issued a statement yesterday saying that media reports had presented a gross misrepresentation of statements made in Ramaphosa’s affidavit and that the president’s response related to the constitutional powers and responsibilities of the president and other government bodies and sought to clarify important legal issues about what was contained in and what was required by the Constitution.
“This statement does not in any way diminish the commitment of President Ramaphosa and this government to end load shedding as a matter of urgency.’’
Former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter in his affidavit in response to the court application said it would cost R365 million to exempt all public hospitals from load shedding.
He said Eskom had received a request from the National Department of Health with a list of 213 hospitals, but could only exclude 25 as they were not embedded in a large distribution network.
Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma yesterday set out regulations of the state of disaster to minimise the impact of load shedding. The regulations would lead to essential services, including hospitals, being exempt.
However, De Ruyter in his affidavit said while plans were afoot for the other public hospitals to be shielded from rolling blackouts, it would take between 12 and 36 months for the necessary infrastructure to be installed.
De Ruyter said private hospitals had also requested to be exempted and Eskom was investigating possible solutions.
In September last year, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said that KZN hospitals that would be exempt included Harry Gwala, Inkosi Albert Luthuli, Grey’s, Addington and Osindisweni.
Provincial Health Department spokesperson Mdu Ncalane said there were ongoing discussions on how more of KZN’s hospitals could be exempt.
“Most of our health-care centres and clinics have generators, with the exception of a few. We are in the process of getting the rest of the generators by September. With regards to hospitals, the department has been in continuous engagement with Eskom and municipalities to exempt them from power cuts,” Ncalane said.
Two of the country’s largest private hospital groups, Netcare and Life Healthcare, said they along with other private hospital groups had also applied for exemption from Phaahla via the Hospital Association of South Africa (Hasa).
Jacques du Plessis, managing director of Netcare’s hospital division, said apart from an increase in energy costs, Netcare’s operations were not affected by load shedding.
“We invested in backup diesel generators 10 years ago in all our facilities, as well as solar power, which is used during daylight hours and outside of load shedding. This means that safe, sustainable care is delivered without disruption throughout our hospitals.”
He said the group had no option but to make provision for backup power to keep their hospitals operational.
“With the increasing load shedding frequency, Netcare facilities have used more than double the amount of diesel compared to previous years.”
Craig Koekemoer, business operations executive for Life Healthcare, said Hasa had called for all hospitals to be exempted from load shedding to avoid compromising patient safety and to avoid threats to the safety of staff and equipment.
“We understand that the National Department of Health is committed to leading this process and we appreciate and continue to support the department’s efforts to address the matter to help ease the pressures on all health-care facilities as they continue to ensure patient care is not compromised.”
He said all their facilities had been equipped with back-up generators since pre-load shedding as a standard operational requirement.
“However, with current load shedding the generators have operated for longer periods than in prior years. The longer running times and the spike of diesel costs has significantly increased our operational energy costs.
“What is important to note, though, is that patient care is not affected by the power outages. We’re committed to ensuring as few interruptions as possible to hospital operations.”