Eskom to implement stage 2 load-shedding on Friday

South Africa is in for another day of rolling blackouts as Eskom implements stage 2 load-shedding on Friday.

The power utility warned that load-shedding would commence at 8am due to a “shortage of capacity”. It was expected to continue until 11pm.

“We continue to appeal to residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly during this period. Please switch off geysers as well as all non-essential lighting and electricity appliances to assist in reducing demand,” said a power update issued early on Friday.

Stage 1 load-shedding was implemented on Thursday and upgraded to stage 2 in the afternoon. Reuters reported that a unit at Eskom's Kusile power station had tripped, adding to a shortfall of generating capacity.

Eskom’s Andrew Etzinger told Reuters that about 12,000MW of Eskom's roughly 45,000MW capacity was offline on Thursday.