Johannesburg – Eskom expects to implement Stage 1 load shedding between 8am and 4pm from Monday till at least Wednesday. The power utility will implement Stage 2 power outages between 4pm and 10pm on the same days.
This will mean there will be no load shedding for Cape Town residents during the Stage 1 power cuts, but their Stage 1 load shedding will kick in between 4pm and 10pm on the same days.
South Africans were welcomed into September with the news of Stage 2 load shedding on Tuesday morning.
This was followed by Stage 4 load shedding on Wednesday and Thursday, which means some areas in the country can expect blackouts at least twice per day.
“Stage 1 load shedding will resume at 8am and last until 4pm. It will then escalate to Stage 2 until 10pm.
“This pattern will repeat on Tuesday, with a high likelihood for Wednesday as well. Eskom will continue to communicate timeously should there be any changes as the system remains unreliable and vulnerable,” said Eskom.
Last week, Eskom blamed the cold weather and persistent generation constraints for the continued blackouts, which saw the power utility implement Stage 4 load shedding last week.
“Load shedding was necessary this weekend in order to replenish the emergency generation reserves, which were depleted over the past week. Eskom expects several generation units to return to service during the next few days which will help ease the supply constraints.
“Unplanned breakdowns amount to 9 272MW of capacity, adding to the 6 314MW currently out on planned maintenance. Eskom teams are working around the clock to return as many of these generation units to service as possible.
“We urge the people of South Africa to continue using electricity sparingly in order to assist Eskom to reduce the instance of load shedding”, said Eskom.
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town had good news for its residents.
“Eskom will continue on Stage 1 load shedding from 8am to 4pm today. City customers will not experience load shedding. From 4pm to 10pm, Eskom will move to Stage 2. City customers will be on Stage 1,” the City tweeted.
Eskom will continue on Stage 1 load-shedding from 08:00 to 16:00 today. City customers, will not experience load-shedding. From 16:00 to 22:00, Eskom will move to Stage 2. City customers will be on Stage 1.
— City of Cape Town (@CityofCT) September 7, 2020
See: https://t.co/fnc1WZzLuZ#CTInfo pic.twitter.com/mQW7xywCGH
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