Eskom pushes load shedding to stage 6 until further notice

Barely a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa told the country that the “worst of load shedding is behind us” during his state of the nation address (Sona), Eskom ramped up the power cuts to stage 6 from midnight on Friday until further notice.

The last time the country was at stage 6 was at the end of November 2023.

Load shedding

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said the utility will communicate should any significant changes occur.

“In spite of returning two generating units to service over the last 24 hours, two generating units were also taken offline. This combined with the need to replenish the pumped storage dams in preparation for the week ahead, necessitated the implementation of stage 6 load shedding from midnight until further notice.

“Our teams are working diligently to return the generation units back online. Eskom will communicate should any significant changes occur,” Mokwena said.

Prior to stage 6, Eskom implemented the power cuts at stage 4 as it battles to keep the lights on.

The move to stage 6 also marks the first time that the rolling blackouts has hit these levels in 2024.

ALSO READ: ‘Worst not behind us’, Mr President, as Eskom ramps up load shedding to stage 4 until further notice

Ramaphosa promsises

During the Sona, Ramaphosa promised the worst of the energy crisis was behind us.

He said that this was as a result of the efforts around the restructuring of the electricity sector.

“We set out a clear plan to end load shedding, which we have been implementing with a single-minded focus through the National Energy Crisis Committee.

“We have delivered on our commitments to bring substantial new power through private investment on to the grid, which is already helping to reduce load shedding,” he said.

ALSO READ: Sona 2024: ‘Worst is behind us,’ says Ramaphosa about load shedding