Eskom will implement stage-5 load shedding on both Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings this week as it struggles to recover from a crippling illegal strike.
The state-owned utility said stage-5 cuts, where 5GW capacity is unavailable to end users, will be imposed by 4pm to 10pm on both Wednesday and Thursday this week, mirroring what was seen on Tuesday.
Eskom expects to reduce the intensity of load shedding by Friday, when it will cut the power at stage 3 between 5am and midnight.
Full details of the planned interruptions are included in the Eskom-supplied table below:
“While some generation units have been returned to service over the past few days, this is not sufficient to suspend load shedding as other generation units have had to be taken offline for repairs,” the company said in a statement.
“Load shedding will therefore continue being implemented at varying stages during the next few weeks as the generation capacity shortages persist. Eskom cautions the public that it will still take a few weeks for the power generation system to fully recover to pre-strike levels.”
It said it expects to reduce the cuts to stage 2 by the weekend, but this depends on the workforce fully returning to work. – © 2022 NewsCentral Media