A blast of early winter weather has got the better of Eskom. The state-owned electricity utility said on Thursday that it will implement stage-2 load shedding overnight on Thursday.

“Despite significant progress in our generation recovery efforts, higher-than-expected electricity demand, the loss of generation units and extensive planned maintenance have placed strain on the system,” Eskom said in a statement.

Update: Load shedding was suspended at midnight on Thursday night.

“As a result, stage-2 load shedding will be implemented from 4pm today and will remain in effect until 5am tomorrow,” the company added.

The renewed power cuts come as South Africa gets hit by the first blast of wintery weather, with a powerful cut-off low pressure system moving across the country. This has led to high demand on the grid.

Read: Eskom adds 800MW of new capacity to the grid

“Given these ongoing constraints, we urge the public to use electricity sparingly to help reduce pressure on the grid. Eskom sincerely apologises for the inconvenience and will continue to provide updates as necessary.” — © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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