Eskom announces stage four load shedding

Eskom says it had to move the country to stage four load shedding at 5:30 on Tuesday morning.

South Africa was on stage two since the early hours of Monday morning until the ailing utility ramped up the rolling blackouts an hour ago.

Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantshsa said Tuesday morning’s increased stages are due to breakdowns of five generators at five power stations overnight.

“The load shedding will be implemented until further notice,” said Mantshantsha.

ALSO READ: Another 18 months of load shedding on the cards

The struggling parastatal had reinstated the deliebrate power cuts on Sunday after a short-lived reprieve.

Load shedding no surprise

The deliberate power cuts which is now being implemented on a regular basis is no longer a surprise for South Africans.

Earlier this month, Load Shedding Tracker by Outlier revealed that January had been the only load shedding free month in 2022.

Data from South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) also showed that Eskom had cut 2 276GWh of electricity in the first six months of 2022, more than 90% of the 2 521GWh it shed for the entire 2021.

Between 2020 and 2021, the number of load shedding hours increased by more than 300, or 12.5 days, for an approximate total of 1 169 hours, or 48 days.

Load shedding to stay

With three months still left in 2022, the comparison by the CSIR is likely to worsen, adding more days of deliberate power cuts to the already burgeoning total.

This was echoed by the ailing parastatal’s Chief Operating Officer, Jan Oberholzer in September who said deliberate sporadic power cuts were likely to be implemented during summer months.

He reiterated this sentiment at the annual Agri-SA congress in Pretoria last week.

Oberholzer said South Africa would not be able to end the deliberate power cuts until sufficient generating capacity was added to the electricity grid to meet demand.

“I’m very reluctant to give a time because then people will hold me to it. But if you ask me, my gut feel. I would say another year, a year and a half to get out of this.”

Higher stages of power cuts

Oberholzer also could not guarantee that South Africa would not see higher stages of rolling blackouts.

ALSO READ: Infographic: January only load shedding free month in 2022