Eskom has confirmed that it will implement stage 4 loadshedding from 2pm on Wednesday until 10pm Wednesday evening.
The change to stage 4 was due to additional breakdowns at Medupi and Duvha power stations.
The stage 4 power cuts were being implemented in order to ration the remaining emergency generation reserve which had been depleted. The reserves were required to respond to further emergencies to maintain the stability of the power grid.
Earlier on Wednesday, Eskom said that stage 2 loadshedding would be implemented until Sunday evening