Cape Town - Eskom has announced that Stage 1 rotational loadshedding will be implemented from 12:00 until 22:00 on Thursday.
The power utility said the loadshedding is a result of "increased generation plant being out for planned maintenance and unplanned outages". The loadshedding requires 1000MW to be loadshed across the country.
Customers are advised to keep checking their load shedding schedules on the Eskom website or municipal websites to determine when they are due to get loadshedding.
"Loadshedding is conducted as a measure of last resort to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout," said Eskom in a statement.
On Wednesday, Eskom said there was a low to medium probability of load shedding the week, adding that the power system remained tight and vulnerable. They vowed to continue to use open-cycle gas turbines and emergency reserves to limit the possibility of load shedding.
Residents and business owners were urged to use electricity sparingly to ease the demand of electricity.