The terms of the national State of Disaster, which was declared on 9 February by the President during his State of the Nation Address, were officially gazetted at the end of last month, nearly three weeks after it was declared.
The government declared the state of disaster to enable it to leapfrog certain bureaucracies and red tape, up to and including procuring alternative energy sources and using state funds to address the load shedding crisis.
The regulations provide for uninterrupted power to five infrastructural facilities, either by releasing them in part or entirely from load shedding, or by means of alternative sources of power, as they are considered ‘essential infrastructure’.
Exceptional powers include the ‘emergency procurement for public institutions’, subject to multiple regulatory frameworks including the Public Finance Management Act, the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act. The exercise of these powers is accompanied by ‘real time audits and report on the accounts, financial statements and financial management of all emergency procurement undertaken during the national state of disaster’ by the Auditor-General.
“Essential infrastructure” includes:
- Health infrastructure including military health facilities;
- Water infrastructure including water treatment plans;
- Rail and ports infrastructure;
- Food production and food storage facilities where feasible; and
- Critical electronic communications and broadcasting infrastructure.
The regulations come into effect on the day of publication of the Gazette. However, they do not provide for an end date.