National power utility Eskom has announced that stage 2 load shedding may affect parts of the country, including the Mother City, and the City of Cape Town has warned residents to minimise their electricity use in order to ease the pressure on the power grid.

Stage 2 load shedding means 2 000 megawatts of electricity are taken off the national power grid to prevent it from collapsing.

“We urge residents to lower their consumption in order to try and limit the impact of load shedding across the City. Please see the map and schedule for more information,” the City has said.

Eskom implemented Stage 1 load shedding on Thursday, but terminated it an hour earlier than expected. The power utility had also previously warned that South Africa will experience more power cuts over the festive season due to Eskom’s current coal shortages and maintenance backlogs.

Eskom has requested that consumers who experience power outages for longer than expected contact their local municipal supplier, as it may be a localised power outage.

Picture: Pixabay

Article written by

Lucinda is a hard news writer who occasionally dabbles in lifestyle writing, and recent journalism graduate. She is a proud intersectional feminist, and is passionate about actively creating a world which is free of discrimination and inequality.