Ramaphosa and the African National Congress have been front and center in the inquiry into state-owned electricity supplier Eskom. The United Democratic Movement and others recently filed a lawsuit in an effort to end the ubiquitous rolling blackouts and have the government's response to the crisis deemed unconstitutional and in breach of fundamental human rights.
According to Independent Online, Ramaphosa argued in his affidavit that the obligation to provide electricity to citizens fell at the feet of muncipal rather than federal leaders, thus his government's response could not legally be ruled unconstitutional.
"If municipalities do not for one reason or another supply electricity to their people, the Constitution does not say that the president must go down to the local government and do it," he wrote.
Ramaphosa's insinuation that he and the ANC bore no legal responsibility to remedy the situation was quickly criticized, prompting the government to issue a formal statement in an attempt to clarify what he meant.
The president's office argued that the comments had been "misrepresented," and that when Ramaphosa said that the federal government was not responsible for the provision of electricity, he was not suggesting that he and the ANC would sit idly by as South Africans suffer.
"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," the government wrote, adding that, "the intense focus that is being given to resolving this crisis – and the actions that have been taken so far – clearly show that neither the President nor government has abdicated its responsibility for ending load shedding and setting the country on a path to energy security."
The case, set to be heard in the Gauteng North High Court in Pretoria beginning March 20, is just one of many attempts to root out the corruption and mismanagement that led to the Eskom debacle.
On Tuesday, Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen announced that he had called on the Speaker of the National Assembly to establish a parliamentary committee to investigate allegations of systemic corruption at Eskom.
"We cannot sit back while our institutions are destroyed by ANC criminal cartels," he stated.
