Mzansi worried load shedding might intensify

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Many South Africans are preparing for a cold and dark winter this year after Eskom implemented Stage 2 load shedding on Thursday afternoon.

This marked the first time in over 30 days that the power utility enforced rolling blackouts. Ironically, this occurred on what is considered one of the coldest days of the year.

In a statement, Eskom attributed the load shedding to the loss of generation units and higher-than-usual demand. However, in the early hours of Friday, the power utility announced the suspension of load shedding, stating that there had been a recovery of generation units.

Eskom implements stage 2 load shedding on coldest day of the year

“Planned maintenance continues to ensure system readiness for increased winter demand, to meet regulatory requirements and to ensure environmental compliance. Our team remains committed to restoring approximately 6000MW to service by next Tuesday.

Eskom will release its Power Alert later today or provide further communication as needed,” the statement read.

With Eskom implementing load shedding on short notice, many South Africans are worried that this might be a normal occurrence in the coming months. Last year, the country did not face load shedding during the winter.

“I hate the fact that we are living at your mercy! And u just know when to do this, when we need electricity the most, in this cold weather, U show us a finger. Niyadika for real!” @Andiswa12088445 tweeted.

“Load shedding? The outlook must be bleak for this winter”, tweeted @Malucky__.

@ForeverYenaNews wrote: “Eskom just hit us with Stage 2 load shedding because demand shot up while some power plants broke down. They’re also doing big maintenance work, making things worse.

“The cold weather isn’t helping everyone’s cranking up their heaters, pushing the grid to the limit.”