A South African court has ordered government to see that electricity supply to public hospitals, schools and police stations remains uninterrupted.
Africa's biggest manufacturing economy has been witnessing unprecedented power shortages amid allegations of corruption at the state-run energy giant, Eskom. The power outages can last up to15 hours a day.
The high court judges on Friday directed the minister of public enterprises to "take all reasonable steps" within 60 days to comply with the order.
They said there had been “repeated breaches by the state of its constitutional and statutory duties and that these breaches are continuing to infringe on citizens’ rights to healthcare, security and education”.
It followed a lawsuit by opposition parties, NGOs and individuals against the state.
President Cyril Ramaphosa in March appointed the country's first electricity minister in a bid to resolve the power crisis. The ruling ANC party is under pressure to deal with the crisis ahead of elections next year.
