Electricity and energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced on Friday that stage 3 load-shedding will be implemented from 5pm and will continue throughout the weekend.
Ramokgopa said Eskom has been burning diesel for the past few days after several of its power stations experienced problems.
Eskom CEO Dan Marokane said this is a potentially temporary setback.
"Load-shedding is largely behind us due to the structural improvements in our generation fleet. However, over the past seven days we have experienced several breakdowns that require extended repair times. This has necessitated the use of all our emergency reserves which now need to be replenished," he said.
The power utility said the summer outlook remains unchanged.
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.