Several suburban areas in Joburg will be without electricity tonight: City Power

The rolling blackouts implemented by Eskom countrywide on Thursday will affect several suburbs in Johannesburg, City Power said.

"This is a stage two load shedding [that] will affect several suburban areas across the city of Johannesburg," the power utility said in a statement.

City power customers could check its Twitter account for regular updates. A load shedding schedule was available on its website.

Eskom announced countrywide power cuts from 4pm to 10pm on Thursday.

"Diesel reserves... are basically depleted and we are therefore experiencing a difficult situation," spokesman Andrew Etzinger said.

Diesel was needed to run the open cycle gas turbines.

Etzinger said the current demand for electricity was higher than Eskom's capacity.

The City of Tshwane and Cape Town warned residents of the blackouts on Twitter.

"@CityTshwane will start with stage 2 #loadshedding at 16:00. #loadshedding will continue until 22:00 unless @Eskom_SA advices otherwise," Tshwane wrote to its followers.

The City of Cape Town tweeted: "LOADSHEDDING ALERT: Stage 2 loadshedding in areas 11 & 8. 16h00 - 18h30."