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Bridgestone plant support legal action against electricity shutdown

Jan 17, 2017 Bridgestone, LegalAction, Tyres, Manufacturing, Electricity,





Tyre maker Bridgestone has announced its support of legal action by the Brits Industrialists Association (BIA) against the Madibeng Municipality. This follows the Brits-based tyre plant having its electricity unlawfully disconnected by the municipality in mid January, one of a number of businesses which suffered the same fate.


The tyre production facility employs more than 800 people and was shut down from midday on Friday, 13 January until early evening on January 16, when the municipality defied a court interdict preventing it from cutting the factory's power. Bridgestone's South African arm includes two tyre manufacturing plants, numerous satellite offices and a network of over 300 commercial and retail outlets.


"Bridgestone South Africa was one of the applicants in the BIA case in which an interim interdict was successfully obtained in 2014 challenging Madibeng's electricity tariff increases pending a court review," said Bridgestone CEO, Gavin Young. "Until the review is heard, Bridgestone's electricity tariff is the figure determined by the court in the interdict."


“On January 16 2017, an urgent application for contempt of court was brought by the members of the BIA in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria,” he explained.“The judge in the matter found in favour of the BIA and issued an order directing the municipality to restore electricity by 18h00 that evening.” 


Young added that Bridgestone had paid all amounts due for its electricity consumption at the tariff set by the court. He added that Madibeng Municipality should have been more sensitive to the impact of its actions on the broader community, with Bridgestone employees being the breadwinners for thousands of residents in the Madibeng area.


The CEO said the company was not ruling out further legal action against Madibeng Municipality to recover the costs of the shutdown and lost productivity. "Now that the plant has been re-started, we will begin to quantify our commercial losses, and our executive team will be taking legal advice on the relief available to us," he concluded

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