By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Power utility Eskom says that stage 2 load shedding will be implemented this weekend due to the continued shortage of generation capacity.
Stage 2 load shedding will again be implemented during the evening peak period of 16h00-24h00 both on Saturday and Sunday, it said.
Eskom will promptly communicate any further significant changes, it said.
“The capacity constraints have been exacerbated by the delay in returning a generation unit to service each at Koeberg, Kusile and Tutuka power stations, as well as the unplanned breakdowns of a generation unit each at Camden and Medupi, two at Hendrina and four units at Arnot power stations.
Some generation units are anticipated to return to service over the next few days,” it said.
Stage 2 load shedding is currently being implemented until midnight.
The weekend load shedding will also assist in recovering emergency generation reserves, which have been utilised extensively to meet demand over the last few days, the power utility said.
For access to other load shedding schedules, Eskom has made them available on http://loadshedding.eskom.co.za/.
Smartphone users can also download the app EskomSePush to receive push notifications when load shedding is implemented, as well as the times the area you are in will be off.