More load shedding expected

SOUTH AFRICANS should brace themselves for another load-shedding onslaught this week as Eskom experiences faults at the R135-billion Medupi power station.

Load shedding had reached stage two yesterday afternoon, affecting a number of areas and thousands of households. Ironically, the blackout happened a few days after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced drastic plans to unbundle the utility during his State of the Nation Address on Thursday.

Eskom said blackouts were expected this week.

“With the depletion of our water and diesel resources, there is a great likelihood that we’ll start the new work week from a weak operational position, meaning that there is a high probability of load shedding from tomorrow as well,” said Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe.

“We have lost some of our big generators at Medupi power station and some of our smaller ones,” Phasiwe added.

“We are likely to continue to have load shedding for tomorrow and parts of the coming week as well.

“However, we will keep consumers updated,” he said.

Phasiwe added that load shedding was conducted rotationally as a measure of last resort to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout.

Consumers have been warned to take measures to protect their household electrical appliances during load shedding.