Eskom has suspended daytime load shedding. Photo: iStock
Due to improved generating capacity and sufficient emergency reserves for the week ahead, Eskom announced that daytime load shedding will be suspended from Monday morning.
The embattled power utility’s announcement followed Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa weekly update on Sunday that six units from various power stations are set to return to service on Wednesday and Thursday.
Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented on Sunday from 4pm to 5am on Monday as previously scheduled.
Thereafter, load shedding will be suspended until 4pm, the utility indicated.
Stage 2 load shedding will then be implemented for the evening peak, lasting until 5am the next day.
The pattern will be in place until further notice, Eskom said.
ALSO READ: Spotlight on bankrupt Eskom’s multimillion ‘vanity project’
Sunday, 5 November
Monday, 6 November
Tuesday, 7 November
ALSO READ: Eskom still not producing enough power to meet typical demand – energy analyst
Independent energy analyst Pieter Jordaan told BusinessTech that much of Eskom’s recent successes in keeping load shedding at bay have been thanks to lower demand, as well as the utility ramping up the burning of diesel significantly.
After a blissful nine days of no load shedding during the Rugby World Cup championship in France recently, Eskom, however, has been forced to once again turn to power cuts after its “diesel burning trick” proved to be unsustainable in the long term.
Earlier this week, the news of Eskom issuing a multimillion-rand tender for the design of a new company logo, as well as the creation of a new corporate identity, sparked an outcry from the Democratic Alliance (DA).
“This is a completely unnecessary vanity project that contributes nothing towards solving South Africa’s load shedding crisis,” the opposition party’s public enterprises spokesperson, Ghaleb Cachalia, said.
“Eskom has been bankrupt for a while now and has been kept afloat by taxpayer-funded bailouts, the most recent of which was the R254 billion Eskom debt takeover by the government, which will worsen the country’s already precarious debt burden,” Cachalia said.
“It is therefore simply astounding that it sees a logo change as a priority when they are literally surviving on taxpayer money.”
To access other schedules, visit loadshedding.eskom.co.za.
NOW READ: Can you sue Eskom for damage to your appliances due to load shedding?
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
