Eskom said unplanned outages remain stable at 14 366MW. Photo: iStock
After a slight reprieve on Human Rights Day, Eskom ramped up load shedding to stage 3 from 8pm on Thursday until 5am on Friday to replenish the low dam levels at the pumped storage power stations.
Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said the power cuts would then be suspended again from 5am on Friday until 4pm.
“Eskom will provide an update on Friday afternoon or if any significant changes occur. Unplanned outages remain stable at 14 366MW and planned maintenance slightly increased to 6 307MW. The anticipated electricity demand for this evening peak is 25 672MW,” Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said.
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa experienced load shedding at the government’s Human Rights Day commemoration because generators were malfunctioning.
Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address at the George Thabe Stadium in Sharpeville on Thursday.
The rolling blackouts kicked in as Sports, Arts, and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa took to the podium to introduce the president.
This led to the programme being disrupted as African National Congress (ANC) supporters used the opportunity to break into songs.
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When Ramaphosa finally took to the stage, he had to pause his speech because there was no sound from the mic due to the malfunctioning generator powering the venue.
While Ramaphosa experienced a short period of rolling blackouts, he urged critics to cut the government some slack, emphasising that during apartheid, many people were denied electricity.
“Nine out of 10 homes now have electricity that was not the case under apartheid. I often say that many of our people were load-shed permanently under apartheid, and now, even as we are dealing with load shedding, we know that load shedding will be solved, and it will come to an end because we have clear intentions to do so,” Ramaphosa said.
Additional reporting by Malibongwe Dayimani
ALSO READ: ‘Load shedding was permanent under apartheid’ – Ramaphosa reminds SA on Human Rights Day
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