Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen says it is a shame that South Africa is being subject to stage four load shedding as the nation tries to recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stage four will continue until five in the morning on Friday, after which stage two will be implemented.
Steenhuisen has been visiting Mamelodi in the DA-controlled Metro of Tshwane where he is campaigning ahead of Monday’s local government elections.
Steenhuisen says this has gone beyond load shedding and is now job shedding.
“This government has just announced that we are moving to stage four load shedding from 12 o’clock today. Stage four load shedding, this isn’t load shedding, this job shedding because when the lights go out and the electricity goes off, the factories stop working, the shops close, the business can no longer run and people lose their jobs.”
DA on a campaign trail in Tshwane:
The power utility says it is due to a shortage of generation capacity and units tripping at several power stations.
Eskom spokesperson, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, says stage 2 load shedding is the power utility’s last resort.
“Over the past 24 hours, a unit each at Medupi, Kusile, and Matla power stations tripped while a unit each at Lethabo and Arnot power stations were forced to shut down. This constrained the power system further requiring extensive use of emergency reserves and therefore, hampering the recovery of these reserves. Some generating units have returned to service and we anticipate another two units to return to service during the day. Load shedding is implemented as a last resort to maintain the stability of the power system regardless of the stage of load shedding.”
Energy Analyst Chris Yelland says South Africans should be concerned about load shedding:
