Eskom says 12 generating units are expected to be brought back online this week and this should help stabilise the grid amid continued Stage 2 load shedding.

Eskom has announced that Stage 2 load shedding will continue this week until 5 am on Saturday morning.  

A number of South Africa’s aging power stations have gone offline.  

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

Some experts say each stage of load shedding costs the South African economy around a R1 billion a day.  

Eskom Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha says, “A total of 12 generating units with a combined capacity of 5 271 megawatts are expected to return to service during the week. We remind customers that load shedding is implemented as a last resort to maintain the stability of the power system regardless of the stage of the load shedding.”   

Eskom extends stage two load shedding for the entire week: Sikonathi Mantshantsha

Last week, City Power warned that it was considering taking Eskom to court over the continued load shedding in the City of Johannesburg.

The power utility has attributed the continued blackouts to several breakdowns of generating units at Tutuka, Kendal and Matimba.

“We are actually considering taking Eskom to court, but we are open for conversation with them, so they can understand where we are coming from. Eskom has said ‘you cannot be excluded from load shedding.’ That cannot be fair. You cannot treat people differently from any other municipality. If we are able to get alternatives around you, you need to at least compensate us with that monetarily or you exclude Johannesburg residents from load shedding. They are paying for that from any other IPP that we may get going forward,” says City Power Spokesperson Isaac Mangena.