South Africans were caught off guard after Eskom announced stage two loadshedding this morning (16 October) on Twitter.

According to News24, a broken coal conveyor belt at the Medupi power station and five electricity generating units which are unavailable due to boiler tube leaks are the reason for loadshedding. The utility also said that there are delays in the return to service of units that are on planned maintenance and it is struggling with a limited diesel supply.

If stage two continues until 23:00, Potchefstroom’s power will be off from 20:00 – 23:00. If stage two loadshedding continues tomorrow (17 October), residents can expect the power to be cut from 08:00 – 12:30.

The Herald will update it’s readers as soon as the situation changes.