Pretoria - In A bid to keep the lights on during load shedding, several courts across the country, including the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, will soon receive generators to enable the wheels of justice to continue turning.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said it was working very hard to minimise the impact of load shedding on the functioning of the courts and other service delivery points.
To ensure that disruptions to court activities resulting from load shedding were kept to a minimum, the department registered a project with the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to install 80 generators at various service points and courts countrywide.
The department said in a statement that the project was at different phases of implementation in all the provinces in a bid to ensure that the courts were always functional.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola, said the department had also embarked on a pilot programme to install inverters and solar power at various service points, through the new minor works delegation received from Public Works in October last year.
He said the Office of the Chief Justice worked closely with the departments of Justice and Public Works to procure generators for all superior courts.
At least eight superior courts would be provided with generators to mitigate the risk of power failures or load shedding.
Apart from the high court in Pretoria – including the part sitting in the Palace of Justice – generators were also earmarked for the high courts in Pietermaritzburg, Middelburg, Thohoyandou and Cape Town.
Several labour courts would also receive generators.
Phiri said: “Uninterrupted power supply systems were provided to all server rooms in all superior courts to prevent data loss and ensure business continuity to the networks. UPS units are, however, required for the court recording technology machines in all these courts to prevent data loss and to minimise interruptions.”
Phiri said Lamola had written to his counterparts at the Ministry of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs as well as to the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity to explore the possibility of justice service points being red-flagged and not to cut power during the times when the courts and other service delivery points needed to function.
“Courts with generators will now take part in the transversal contract on the provision of diesel so that courts can operate without disruptions. In addition, Public Works has advised that they are engaging a term-contractor for maintenance of the existing generators,” Phiri said.
Emergency lights had also been procured for cells and all dark areas in courthouses.
Pretoria News