In a disappointing turn of events, residents of Frankfort in the Free State are left without power during stage 6 load shedding while a nearby solar farm dumps unused solar-generated electricity.

Rural Maintenance, responsible for the distribution and management of electricity in Frankfort, approached the South Gauteng High Court seeking an interdict against Eskom to protect its ability to self-loadshed and provide an alternative source of electricity to avoid implementing loadshedding schedules in the town.

In its papers, Rural Maintenance argued that the alternative source of electricity generated by the solar farm poses no threat to the national grid and reduces the electricity demand on Eskom. However, the High Court dismissed Rural Maintenance's application without dealing with the merits of the case on the grounds that it was not properly before the court as Rural Maintenance failed to prove that the Mafube Local Municipality (“MLM”) authorized it to proceed with litigation on its behalf.

Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys approached the Municipal Manager of the MLM on 12 April 2023 pleading with him to submit a supporting affidavit in support of the application. It was stressed that a failure to provide such an affidavit would be fatal to the application. In a dim response, the MLM stated that it did not form part of the court proceedings, leaving Rural Maintenance with no choice but to adhere to Eskom's instructions and apply loadshedding to Frankfort on certain days where they could have otherwise made use of the solar generated electricity.

The community of Frankfort, along with Rural Maintenance, were optimistic that the court would rule in their favour, especially after witnessing the positive effects of alternatively generated electricity which provided much-needed relief from the punishing effects of loadshedding. However, despite Eskom not providing any expert evidence in their court papers to contradict the positive results, the Judgment handed down has been disappointing.

Rural Maintenance will now engage with Eskom and NERSA to try and understand Eskom's reluctance to support the initiative. It is yet to be seen whether the MLM will support Rural Maintenance during this process which could take several months to complete. With the nation in the throes of a loadshedding crisis, the availability and use of the solar energy generated by the solar farm can ease the situation. In the meantime, the communities and businesses of Frankfort will continue to bear the brunt of loadshedding while unused solar-generated electricity goes to waste.