Weekend of darkness as stage 4 load shedding to continue

Your weekend will be littered with bouts of power cuts after Eskom on Friday announced that stage 4 load shedding will continue until Sunday morning.

The power utility said persistent shortages of generation capacity and breakdowns of a generating unit each at Kriel, Majuba and Tutuka power stations over the past 24 hours have necessitated the continuation of rolling blackouts at stage 4 until 5am on Sunday.

Stage 3 load shedding

Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said the power cuts will then be implemented at stage 3 until 5am on Monday.

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“On Sunday, Eskom will provide the outlook of the power cuts for the week ahead as the teams are working around the clock to return units to service,” said Mantshantsha.

Available generation reserves

He added that while some generation units are anticipated to return to service during next week, load shedding will still continue to replenish the emergency generation reserves.

“Generation reserves have been depleted by extensive utilisation to limit the amount of load shedding over the past two weeks. We currently have 7 210MW on planned maintenance, while another 15 319MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns. Eskom will promptly communicate any further changes,” Mantshantsha said.

City Power

Meanwhile, City Power confirmed its teams are working to restore power in Randburg and surrounding areas after a cable was stolen on Montrose Road.

The power company stated that the estimated time of restoration would be around mid-morning.

“Teams are still busy replacing the stolen cable. Upon completion, they will conduct final test, and if all is clear, the restoration process will commence,” City Power said.

Additional reporting by Devina Haripersad

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