Eskom has announced that load shedding will be suspended from 5am on Sunday morning until 5am on Monday morning.
Thereafter, Stage 2 power cuts will return at 4pm on Monday afternoon.
The power utility says the suspension of rolling blackouts for Christmas day is due to the lower demand in electricity.
However, Eskom says that Stage 3 load shedding will be implemented from Tuesday the 27th of December as the generation fleet remains unpredictable and vulnerable.
The Western Cape Agriculture Minister, Ivan Meyer, has appealed to Eskom to make special provision regarding rolling blackouts for farmers who are harvesting now. This is necessary to protect jobs in the provincial agriculture sector.
Meyer says he received several complaints in the past weeks from farmers preparing to harvest. He says adjusting the daytime rolling blackouts schedule to the sector’s needs would assist in sustaining and create the much-needed jobs in the rural towns of the Western Cape.
Earlier, Mabuza said the energy crisis was a major threat to the country’s economy.
The Chairperson of the Eskom Task Team says rolling blackouts are compromising job security and stifling economic growth.
Mabuza says poor living conditions are compounding the challenges that South Africans are facing.
“We must also confront other developmental challenges including energy instability that presents itself through load shedding which harms the economy productivity to generate the necessary jobs and growth. Poor access to water, sanitation and decent housing for some … we must admit that the majority of people are still not on the path to a better and more prosperous society which has been our shared goal since the beginning of freedom and democracy,” says Mabuza.
Christmas Day I Preparing delicious meals for the family and those in need:
