Eskom extends load shedding to Saturday morning

Eskom has extended Stage 2 load shedding for the entire week until this coming Saturday.

The cash-strapped power utility says it has been forced to extend Stage 2 load shedding for the whole of this week because of insufficient generating capacity and reserves.

Eskom says the power outage in Zambia has affected what it calls the ‘entire southern Africa power pool’ including imported power from Cahora Bassa.

It says there have also now been trips at the Medupi and Matla power stations in South Africa.

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Regretfully, Stage 2 loadshedding will continue throughout the week from 05:00 on Monday until 05:00 on Saturday pic.twitter.com/sfh1mtO3yi

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) November 7, 2021

Meanwhile, Eskom says the road closures on the N1 North and South between the William Nicol and Rivonia off-ramps in Johannesburg were expected to end a short while ago, at 4pm.  

Sanral granted permission for the road closure so that the power utility could replace cables crossing the N1 Freeway and Witkoppen Road.  

Senior Manager of Project Delivery at Eskom Harish Mohabir, says, “Further, it has also been granted permission for the temporary road closure of the R564 Witkoppen Road between Umhlanga Ave/Cambridge Road and Estelle Road on Sunday, 07 November to replace the optical ground wire and earth wire on the Craighall Menerva line. Eskom would like to apologise to the public for any inconvenience caused during the stringing process, and appeals for restraint, co-operation and patience during the works.”