Power utility Eskom announced late on Friday that load-shedding would be pushed to stage six until further notice.
In a late-night alert, it noted that despite returning two generating units to service over the last 24 hours, two generating units were also taken offline.
“This combined with the need to replenish the pumped storage dams in preparation for the weeks ahead, necessitated the implementation of stage 6 load-shedding. Our teams are working diligently to return the generation units back online.”
Eskom said that stage six would be in effect from midnight on Friday until further notice and that it would communicate any significant changes should they occur.
The last time that South Africans experienced stage six load-shedding was in November last year.
In his State of the Nation Address on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the government’s “single-minded focus” on implementing plans to urgently address the energy crisis are making gains – with the end of load shedding “finally within reach”.
The government has a clear plan – the Energy Action Plan – which is being implemented with “single-minded focus through the National Energy Crisis Committee”.
The last time the country experienced load-shedding at stage six was at the end of November 2023
