Durban - South Africans have expressed outrage at the country's move to Stage 6 load shedding, which Eskom says will be implemented "until further notice".
On Wednesday, Eskom said it was forced to implement a higher level of load shedding following the breakdown of several generators.
"Eleven generators, amounting to 5 084MW of capacity, suffered breakdowns since Tuesday morning, further reducing available capacity and necessitating the increase in the stages of load shedding. These were a unit each at the Camden, Duvha, Grootvlei, Hendrina, Kendal, and two units each at Kriel, Majuba and Matla power stations.
“A unit each at Camden, Duvha, Hendrina, Kriel, Matimba and Matla power stations have returned to service, representing 2 540MW of capacity," explained Eskom's Sikhonathi Mantshantsha.
He said planned maintenance is currently 5 739MW while breakdowns amount to 18 041MW of capacity.
Mantshantsha added that Stage 6 load shedding will be implemented continuously until further notice.
"Due to the severe capacity constraints, Eskom will continue to manage the limited emergency generation reserves to supplement generation capacity," he said.
Action SA leader Herman Mashaba slammed President Cyril Ramaphosa, adding that he promised to fix the country's ailing power utility, but it has gotten worse.
What madness is this?
— Herman Mashaba (@HermanMashaba) January 11, 2023
Stage 6 “until further notice” ⁉️@CyrilRamaphosa you having been promising to fix @Eskom_SA and end load-shedding for years, but it has only gotten worse.
We cannot live like this. pic.twitter.com/fiPApae5Vh
Ja Mr President here we are again at Stage 6 but why would you and your cabinet care? You are covered. I promise you, we are voting you lot out of power (sic) once and for all. No damn it, nobody signed up for this crappy life under your mismanagement
— Jonathan Jansen (@JJ_Stellies) January 11, 2023
Dumelang. I can't say have a productive when I know very well that South Africa is on stage 4 in morning and stage 6 will start later today.. No economic activity. #SAInTheDark. #Loadshedding @Eskom_SA.
— Sophie Mokoena (@Sophie_Mokoena) January 12, 2023
If the risk this week was green maybe yellow, and we're at Stage 6, wtf does a solid red week look like? @Eskom_SA @PresidencyZA simply cannot be silent like this. It's ridiculous. If you can't do the job, get tf out of the way.
— Rob AF. (@RobForbesDJ) January 11, 2023
I don't see my company functioning under stage 6 it's a serious struggle for SMMEs. I can't keep up at all! What must happen now? We are headed for even more job losses. Sad reality and I'm the last person to lose hope but I can't see us surviving this 1.
— Tbo Touch (@iamtbotouch) January 11, 2023
The City of Cape Town has activated its disaster coordinating team to mitigate any potential impact on residents.
"The situation is being closely monitored. Traffic and additional enforcement resources are on standby to be deployed if required for any public safety issues, or in areas affected by prolonged power outages," the CoCT said.
It said Eskom’s non-stop load shedding at high stages, has impacted City infrastructure negatively, despite the contingency measures that are in place.
CoCT added that load shedding also impacts traffic, with nearly 75% of signalised intersections on the City’s road network equipped with Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) systems.
"This is 1 228 of the City’s 1 652 traffic signals. Unfortunately, the UPS batteries do not have sufficient time to recharge when Eskom implements non-stop Stage 4 load shedding or above," the CoCT said.
Speaking to EWN, Efficient Group's Dawie Roodt said the blackouts could lead to elevated levels of unemployment and poverty.
IOL