Johannesburg - State power firm Eskom said on Thursday it would cut 1 000 megawatts of electricity from the national grid from 9 am, likely until 9 pm, because of a shortage of generating capacity.
Eskom is struggling to emerge from a severe financial crisis and has suffered a series of unplanned breakdowns at its creaking coal-fired power station fleet, which limit its ability to power Africa's most industrialised economy.
The utility has appealed to businesses and consumers to conserve electricity and switch off geysers and non-essential appliances.
Recently, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) approved a tariff increase for Eskom of 9.41%, 8.10% and 5.22% price increases for years 2019/20 to 2021/22 respectively.
An engineering task team mandated with investigating a host of issues at the utility has to deliver its report to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan within a month.
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