By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Eskom has suspended load shedding, effective 12:00 on Saturday, after the power system recovered sufficiently, with emergency reserves “adequately replenished”.
Initially the country had been advised that stage 2 load shedding would persist from May 3 until 05:00 on Monday, “owing to delays in returning generators to service, as well as breakdowns of nine generators.”
“Generation units at Matla, Majuba, Grootvlei and Kendal power stations as well as the non-commercial Kusile unit have returned to service on Saturday morning. A further unit each at Matimba and Arnot power stations are expected to return to service the same day.”
Furthermore, the emergency reserves have been adequately replenished and are available to support the system next week.
“Although we have brought back these generators, the onset of winter has seen increased demand and this will lead to a constrained system throughout the winter. We therefore urge all South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly,” cautioned Eskom.
The embattled power utility did however warn consumers to use electricity sparingly, as the onset of winter has seen increased demand and a constrained system is expected throughout the season.