Eskom said most of its workforce is in place following unlawful industrial action, though generation capacity has yet to improve.
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Unlawful industrial action at Eskom’s power stations means South Africans will have to continue to endure stage-4 load shedding until at least Wednesday night.
Eskom will implement severe load shedding from 11am on Friday to conserve its emergency reserves as some of its workers, striking illegally, blockade its power stations.
Eskom has warned that illegal strike action by employees could make load shedding worse in the coming days.
Tensions are rising at Eskom, with the struggling state-owned electricity supplier confirming protests at several power plants following a breakdown in wage negotiations.
A powerful cold front, which has caused temperatures to plummet across South Africa, has forced Eskom to escalate load shedding to include daytime cuts.
Load shedding, which Eskom had been expected to implement only during the evening peaks this week, will now be ramped up significantly.
Other nations and philanthropic organisations want to join the $8.5-billion climate finance deal offered to South Africa by rich countries.
South Africa’s plan to create a separate power transmission company has been hobbled by restrictive debt arrangements with parent Eskom.
After warning earlier on Monday that load shedding could be implemented at short notice, the inevitable has now happened.