No load shedding this evening, but power constrained: Eskom

There were no power cuts planned for Monday but the electricity grid remained constrained, Eskom said.

"There is no load shedding being implemented at present," Eskom's media desk said in an email.

"The power system is constrained and will remain so for the rest of this summer. Any extra load or faults in the system may necessitate the need to go into load shedding."

The utility called on South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly throughout summer.

On December 5, Eskom implemented stage three power cuts.

Stage one allows for up to 1000MW of the national load to be shed, stage two for up to 2000MW, and stage three for up to 4000MW.

On Thursday, Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona said government shared responsibility with Eskom for the power problems gripping the country.

"The government co-owns the problem because some of the factors that led us into the situation have to do with policy," he told reporters.

This included electricity pricing set by the National Energy Regulator of SA.

Matona reiterated that the country's power supply would remain severely constrained in the coming months while Eskom dealt with its maintenance backlog.

He likened Eskom to "a ship sailing through difficult waters" and a car that had not had regular maintenance.

He said maintenance, like a religion at Eskom, had been neglected in recent years and at times was deferred to keep the lights on.

In February 900 megawatts would be taken off the grid when one of Koeberg nuclear power station's units would undergo maintenance.