Eskom warns South Africans to brace for higher stages of load shedding

Ailing parastatal Eskom has warned South Africans to brace themselves for higher stages and further escalation of load shedding this week as the national grid remains severely constrained.

The grid has been under severe pressure for the past week as the power utility ramped up the power cuts.

On Sunday, Eskom escalated the deliberate power cuts to stage 6 which was last seen in July, citing further breakdowns at its Kusile and Kriel power stations.

Stage 6 to continue

Eskom Chief Executive Officer Andre Oberholzer said stage 6 load shedding will persist until further notice.

“So, looking at it, stage 6 load shedding will remain implemented until sufficient generation units are returned to service, ending load shedding at those levels have been replenished. We are not yet able to make a firm commitment as to when we will be able to ease the current stage of load shedding.”

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“I can just assure again the public of South Africa that the system is monitored closely,” Oberholzer.

The exacerbated load shedding has also affected the water supply in several parts of Johannesburg.

Water supply affected

On Sunday, Johannesburg Water said  stage 6 load shedding was impacting Johannesburg Water infrastructure towers in various parts of the City of Johannesburg.

“The pump stations which supply water into the towers, are isolated during the electricity outage, which then results in no water supply into the towers during the duration of loadshedding. Customers in the various tower zones are affected by no water or poor pressure.”

Ramaphosa rushes home

Meanwhile, as Eskom battles to keep the lights one frustrating millions of South Africans, President Cyril Ramaphosa has cut short his overseas trip and is expected to touch down in South Africa on Monday following the Eskom crisis.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the electricity status in the country was “alarming” to Ramaphosa, especially in light of the commitments made to the nation to fix the ongoing energy crisis and embattled power utility Eskom.

Magwenya said no one expected yet another bout of load shedding, let alone an escalation to stage 6.

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