Johannesburg – After almost two months of rolling blackouts that reached a high of Stage 6, Eskom has announced it will suspend power cuts from midnight on Friday.
The power utility said it would implement Stage 1 power cuts from 4pm until midnight on Friday, after which they would cease.
South Africans have been experiencing unprecedented rolling blackouts for almost two months.
A wild cat strike by Eskom employees exacerbated matters, taking the power cuts to a record high of Stage 6, which saw South Africans without electricity for up to six hours a day as the utility struggled to generate the required capacity.
Eskom and trade unions in the energy sector eventually agreed to a 7% wage hike, which will cost the power utility over R1bn, money it admits it does not have.
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Matshantsha thanked the public for their patience during the power cuts, and said the utility would be implementing the last bout until further notice, as Eskom had finally managed to sufficiently recover all the systems and generation reserves for now.
He said the power cuts will then be suspended as the generation system has recovered sufficiently.
“Eskom thanks the public and all stakeholders for their patience and understanding during this difficult period of load shedding,” he said.
However, despite the suspension of the power cuts, systems remained constrained and people were urged to use electricity sparingly.
IOL