SA power utility giant Eskom on Friday said stage one rotational load shedding will continue from 9 am until 11 pm on Saturday, but expects some of the problems to be resolved by Sunday, reported IOL News.
In an official statement, Eskom said the electricity system is currently under severe pressure as several generation units are now out of service. The power utility assured that recovery efforts were under way to fix coal handling issues at Medupi and to expedite the return of units that experienced technical problems.
“We hope to have recovered adequately by Sunday so that South African can enjoy watching the Springboks playing in the World Cup,” the statement said.
South Africa will take on Japan in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final on Sunday.
Meanwhile, South African Deputy President David Mabuza has apologised to the people of the country who have been hit by continuous blackouts. The blackouts have affected a number of businesses as well as learners who are busy preparing for the end of year examinations across the country.
“We must, on behalf of the government, apologize to all businesses, to students who cannot take their exams, for the inconvenience this causes,” Vice President Mabuza told Parliament on Thursday. “We are studying the problems affecting Eskom and we want to assure South Africans that we will return to a normal situation.”
The load-shedding, which began on Wednesday, continued throughout Thursday and Friday due to faulty generating units.
Eskom suffered a major setback after losing three units at the Medupi power station in Limpopo due to coal and ash handling issues. By Friday evening, one of the units was back on line.
The public electricity giant supplies 95% of the electricity produced in South Africa. In June 2019, the company announced a debt of more than 1 billion dollars. It cited breakdowns in their plants as the cause of these cuts and promised a return to normalcy soon.
