Stage 6 load-shedding until further notice

It has been a case of one step forward and two back over the last 24 hours for the national power provider, with units breaking down and others returning.

This led to stage 6 load-shedding being declared by Eskom at midnight on Friday.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena told TimesLIVE on Saturday the power utility would review the situation once all information was in.

“We lost a unit at Kusile on Friday but thankfully it was returned to service this morning. Then we also lost unit 1 at Lethabo yesterday and this morning unit 5 at Majuba,” she said.

“We are working hard to address the issue. Some good news is that unit 5 at Lethabo synchronised this morning.”

She could not say how long the country would be on stage 6.

“On Thursday demand was high during the daytime and we lost units. Eskom also had less output from renewables than normal,” Mokoena said.

“We had to revert to using our pumped storage dams to assist. These fall under our emergency reserves. The pumped storage dams are now on critical levels and must be replenished to avoid bigger issues.

“Our teams are working diligently to return the generation units back online.”

Delivering his state of the nation address (Sona) on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the end of load-shedding is within reach, and part of the plan is to seek help from the private sector.

Energy Council of South Africa CEO James Mackay this week said load-shedding should be over by next year, and will be only half as bad this year compared to 2023.

TimesLIVE