Eskom to implement rolling blackouts on Thursday evening

Eskom has announced that Stage 2 rolling blackouts will resume from 5 o’clock until 10 o’clock on Thursday.

The power utility has been implementing Stage 2 rolling blackouts since Monday during evening peak hours.

The utility’s Spokesperson is Sikhonathi Mantshantsha.

“A shortage of generation capacity during the evening peak will require the implementation of Stage 2 load shedding (rolling blackouts) from 17:00 until 22:00 tonight. The onset of winter has seen increased demand and this will lead to capacity constraints throughout this period, particularly during the evening. Unfortunately, this would mean we have to load shed during the evening peaks as we will do tonight.”

Eskom urges public to use electricity sparingly

Eskom has reiterated a call for the public to use electricity sparingly during peak hours by switching off non-essential items.

It follows Wednesday’s implementation of Stage 2 rolling blackouts, which ended at 10pm. Eskom has apologised to the public for the recent power cuts – saying management is working on resolving the issues faced by the utility.

Eskom’s Spokesperson Sikhonathi Mantshantsha says, “The onset of winter has seen increased demand and this will lead to capacity constraints throughout the winter period, particularly during the evening and morning peaks. Unfortunately, this would generally require the implementation of loadshedding (rolling blackouts) during the evening peaks. Eskom would like to remind the public that loadshedding (rolling blackouts) is implemented only as a last resort to protect the national grid. We therefore urge all South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly.”

Meanwhile, Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter has apologised to the public for the recent rolling blackouts – saying top management are working on resolving the issues faced by the power utility.

De Ruyter was speaking during a media briefing. He says, “What we have been trying to do is minimise the impact on national life by restricting the hours during which loadshedding (rolling blackouts) is implemented. Nonetheless, we fully appreciate that loadshedding (rolling blackouts) remains a huge inconvenience and we therefore again would like to extend our apologies. I can give you the assurance that my executives and I are seized with the matter and we are working hard to resolve the issues that are outstanding.”

Eskom has been implementing Stage 2 power cuts from Monday between five o’clock in the afternoon and 10 o’clock at night.

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