Load shedding back to stage 3 from Tuesday and stage 2 for rest of the week

Load shedding will revert back to stage 3 from 5pm until 10pm on Tuesday.

According to Eskom, the rest of the week will see load shedding implemented at stage 2.

The parastatal ramped up the level of load shedding from stage 3 to stage 4 on Monday due to further loss in generating capacity.

Eskom implemented blackouts at the weekend when eight of its generators suffered losses.

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During a media briefing on Monday, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said the electricity grid was severely constrained.

De Ruyter said there was a loss of 16,307MW due to unplanned breakdowns.

With the country in the throes of winter, De Ruyter said the demand had moved to a typical winter pattern.

“The system is capable of handling demand as well as during the morning. So, its only really a constraint that we have during the peak and what that means is that we can cope with the demand during the day.”

“Fortunately, this also then puts us in a position where we have less of an impact on business life in particular. We do understand that after 5pm the impact on the domestic consumer is particularly pronounced and that is highly regrettable and we’ve got a challenge with resolving that,” De Ruyter said.

Meanwhile, as Eskom battles to keep the lights on, a sophisticated criminal syndicate has reportedly been stealing millions of rand worth of fuel at Eskom’s Kriel Power Station in Mpumalanga.

Investigative journalism unit, amaBhungane, on Monday, reported that the syndicate worked in cahoots with Eskom officials, police and trucking companies to steal fuel from the coal-powered station.

The syndicate had reportedly been exploiting a design flaw at the station that has to do with a weigh bridge.

De Ruyter said the theft of fuel by criminal syndicates at Kriel was disrupting their operations and contributed to the loss in generation capacity.

ALSO READ: Eskom officials, police involved in syndicate stealing millions worth of fuel from Kriel Power Station – report