Eskom said it would only be able to inform the public on Friday evening whether load shedding would go ahead over the weekend.
The utility had warned of a high probability of continuing rolling blackouts until Sunday, despite an earlier plan to switch the lights back on from Friday.
Eskom’s Sikonathi Mantshantsha said: “Today we will meet at 5 pm to make the final call on what shall happen on Saturday and Sunday. We will probably also give an outlook for the following week, at that meeting. We will update the market at around 7 pm.”
#POWERALERT 1
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) February 7, 2020
Date: 7 February 2020
Stage 2 rotational loadshedding is currently being implemented and there is a high probability of loadshedding over the weekend @SABCNewsOnline@TimesLIVE @ewnupdates @eNCA @IOL @Newzroom405 @TheSAnews pic.twitter.com/h2U96wzw3i
Eskom said due to the high number of unplanned outages; it has been using its emergency gas turbines and storage schemes to supplement capacity.
It said these reserves needed to be replenished to full levels during the weekend.
As a result, City Power has also implemented stage 2 load shedding.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said: “We have still not recovered from the problems that we had with generation at Kelvin sub-station. The repairs are still ongoing there.”
Meanwhile, Lenasia South residents have been without electricity since Friday morning after City Power implemented an emergency outage due to cable theft at a major substation.
Teams are on-site to replace the cable and repair damaged equipment.
Mangena said supply should be restored by Friday evening.
“The problem with cable theft is that it costs the city millions of money that we could have used for other services. Currently, it is inconveniencing the people of Lenasia South.