The sudden announcement was made while the country was in Stage 2 load-shedding in the early hours of Friday.

A host of reasons are behind the escalation of the rolling power blackouts.

The embattled power utility says Stage 4 load shedding was necessitated by low pumped storage dam levels and a lack of diesel.

Breakdowns at power stations have hit 17 056 megawatts of generation capacity.

"Stage 4 load-shedding was implemented at 05:26 this morning until further notice," said Eskom spokesperson, Sikonathi Mantshantsha.

Mantshantsha said Eskom will give a further update "as soon as it's necessary".

Jacaranda News