The country will continue with loadshedding stage 4 on Thursday after having to endure stage 6 blackouts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to an announcement by Eskom on Wednesday afternoon, the country moved to stage 6 loadshedding on Wednesday at 4pm, which lasted until 10pm that evening. Loadshedding was then relaxed and returned to stage 4 from 10pm to midnight, and stage 2 from midnight to 5am. For the rest of Thursday, South Africans can expect to experience stage 4 blackouts.
Changes may be implemented at short notice as necessary.
While some workers have started reporting for duty at the power stations, there is still a high level of absenteeism after many Eskom staff participated in “unlawful wage strikes”. Eskom claims these strikes are the prime reason why routine maintenance work has had to be postponed. As a result, a backlog will “take days to weeks to clear”. Eskom emphasises that the system will remain constrained and vulnerable to additional breakdowns while recovery activities are in progress, thus making the current situation unstable and unpredictable.
They currently have 3 161MW on planned maintenance, while another 17 395MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
Eskom would like to remind the public that loadshedding is implemented only as a last resort to protect the national grid. They urge all South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly especially during “these uncertain times” on the power system.
While the country faces a complete grid collapse and a possible return of stage 6 blackouts, the City of Cape Town will continue to try and shield its residents from the harmful impacts of the severe loadshedding schedule.
In a statement by Cape Town mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, he ensures residents that the City will be able to limit loadshedding to stage 4 due to the city’s reserves and utilising the Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme.
“Our ability to offer loadshedding mitigation is primarily due to the fact that we are able to operate the Steenbras Hydroelectric Plant at full capacity during Eskom’s stage 6,” the statement reads.
“We consider loadshedding above stage 4 to be an acute socio-economic emergency that requires far-reaching, harm-preventing interventions.
“At levels of loadshedding above stage 4, critical infrastructure — including electricity, water, sanitation, and communications assets — is put at even more serious risk than usual. These facilities and equipment are simply not designed to be switched off and on with such regularity, nor do they contain batteries that are able to provide power for upwards of 10 hours per day. Long periods of downtime also leave this infrastructure more vulnerable to theft and vandalism, putting severe strain on our law enforcement resources,” he adds.
The statement also reminds residents that the City of Cape Town is hard at work to drastically reduce the city’s reliance on Eskom-generated power and is looking at every possible avenue of expediting this process.
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