Eskom to lower load shedding, but what about Christmas day?

There is some good news for South Africans – a possible downgrade of load shedding ahead of the Christmas weekend, according to Eskom.

The power utility announced that while stage 4 load shedding is currently being implemented, it will lower the deliberate power cuts by a stage.

Christmas load shedding

Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said stage 3 load shedding will be implemented from 5am on Saturday morning until 5am on Sunday morning.

“Eskom will confirm the load shedding arrangements for Christmas Day based on the state of the power system”, he said.

Many South Africans will be hoping there will be no load shedding on Christmas and the long weekend including the 27th of December, which was declared an official public holiday by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Exacerbated load shedding

The ailing parastatal has been battling to keep the lights on, with January the only month in 2022 that did not have load shedding, according to The Outlier.

The power cuts have forced South Africans to seek alternative power sources with scores flocking to buy generators and inverters at incredibly high costs.

ALSO READ: Eskom dealt blow after ConCourt rules against reducing electricity

Angry South Africans

The exacerbated load shedding has also angered South Africans.

Many are taking to social media, complaining about how the rolling blackouts have caused damages to electronics and appliances, and food rotting in the fridge.

The power cuts have also severely interrupted the productivity of those working from home, forcing many to lose a portion of their viable income.

Eskom dealt a blow

Meanwhile, Eskom was dealt a blow after the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) dismissed an appeal by the power utility against an interdict barring it from reducing electricity supplies to two municipalities in the Free State and Mpumalanga.

Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga handed down the judgement on Friday.

Justice Madlanga said the majority found the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal correctly granted interim interdicts against the parastatal prohibiting it from reducing the bulk electricity supply it previously supplied to municipalities.

“This is so because Eskom’s decision infringed the rights of the residents of the municipalities, as set out in the Bill of Rights. The deplorable nature of the violations amply demonstrates that the harm suffered by the residents would be irreparable,” he said.

ALSO READ: R12.3 billion loss: ‘Eskom could be profitable if not for debt burden’ – De Ruyter