No more weekend treats: Stage 1 load shedding from 6 pm

Eskom has confirmed the lights will stay on until 6 pm on Sunday when stage 1 load shedding will kick in.

It was earlier announced that stage 2 rolling blackouts would be implemented from 4 pm.

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However, just minutes before the lights were set to go off, the utility announced a two-hour reprieve, it said was due to lower-than-anticipated demand and a further slight improvement in generation capacity.

Stage 1 will run until 10 pm. Load shedding will then be suspended until 5 pm on Monday when stage 2 will resume until further notice.

The power utility said it would communicate any significant changes.

New Year, New breakdowns

After a quiet festive season that saw the longest stretch without planned power cuts since June 2022, Eskom has been ramping up load shedding to keep up maintenance and make up for the breakdown of generation units.

On Wednesday it announced stage 3 rolling blackouts would be implemented because four units had gone down, before easing to stage 2 on Friday.

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Speaking earlier this month, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said Eskom’s systems were still unstable and unreliable.

“We are addressing this through the planned maintenance. We’re getting through that recovery and we are experiencing a period of no load shedding again.

“We will have this period of days of no load shedding and then there will be days of load shedding,” he warned.

Companies at risk

The Allianz Risk Barometer report released this week detailed load shedding as one of the top concerns for global businesses.

3,069 risk management experts from 92 countries surveyed found infrastructure blackouts, cyber crimes and business interruptions as the country’s biggest risks.