Eskom Temporarily Suspends Load Shedding; Stage 3 to Resume on Sunday

The beleaguered South African power utility, Eskom, announced a temporary reprieve from load shedding, much to the relief of South Africans. The suspension started from saturday 11:00 and is set to continue until Sunday at 16:00. Eskom Spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, stated that the relief was due to an incremental improvement in generation capacity. Subsequently, Stage 3 load shedding will resume from 16:00 on Sunday, until 05:00 on Monday, following previously communicated schedules.

Interestingly, this break comes at a welcome time for many South Africans, eager to watch and cheer on the Springboks in the 2023 Rugby World Cup match against Romania set for Sunday. The past week was a feat for citizens who had to endure stages 5 and 6 power cuts.

The Presidency voiced confidence in the Government's strides towards ending load shedding and achieving energy security for the country. Presidency spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya challenged the large number of unplanned breakages causing the escalated levels of load shedding as they are being addressed.

In the same vein, Deputy President Paul Mashatile displayed confidence regarding eliminating the rolling blackouts by 2024. He further expressed concern over the frequency and intensity of load shedding clarifying that they are in close working terms with the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, to address this issue robustly.

Adding to the updates planned, Ramokgopa will conduct a media briefing on Sunday to enlighten South Africans on the current advancement of the Energy Action Plan (EAP).