Johannesburg - Power utility Eskom on Friday confirmed it has implemented stage 1 rotational load shedding.
The parastatal said the decision to implement stage 1 as opposed to stage 2 was due to an "small improvement in generation performance and because of lower electricity demand on Fridays".
Stage 1 calls for 1000MW to be rotationally load shed nationally at a given period.
Load shedding is conducted rotationally as a measure of last resort to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout.
Load shedding began at 9am and is expected to end at 10pm.
"Customers are reminded to treat all electrical points as live during load shedding. Eskom would like to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.
"We continue to appeal to residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly during this period. Please switch off geysers as well as all non-essential lighting and electricity appliances to assist in reducing demand."