South Africans threaten to withhold votes after load-shedding announcement

Just as South Africans were getting used to stage 1 load-shedding on Thursday morning, power utility Eskom announced later in the day that stage 2 was on the cards.

In a statement, Eskom attributed the power cuts to plant breakdowns. Stage 2 allows for 2,000MW of electricity to be shed rotationally from the national grid.

Following Eskom's latest announcement, South Africans have threatened to withdraw their votes from the May 8 elections. 

In February, the power utility implemented power cuts up to stage four in less than a week after it said generators had tripped.