Eskom has shifted to stage 2 load-shedding which is expected to last until 11 pm on Saturday. The electricity supplier says its working towards replenishing water reserves a day after it ramped up stage 4 load-shedding due to the persistent rainy weather conditions.  Eskom says it’s in a worse situation after losing most of its additional generating units since Thursday. The utility has in the meantime urged customers to use electricity sparingly.

“We would like to ask for customers to do what they can on their side to reducing their usage; whether that is switching off appliances that they are not using at home and at work.”                                                                                

On Friday, Vodacom said its customers nationwide are experiencing connectivity issues due to the power cuts implemented by Eskom.

The utility turned up the level of scheduled load-shedding from stage 2 to 4 on Friday, citing capacity issues caused by high demand and breakdowns.

Eskom said that “wet weather” made it difficult for power stations to use coal.

The Gauteng Health Department said hospitals were impacted by load-shedding.

The department's Kwara Kekana said they needed a reliable power source at hospitals.

“Our facilities are impacted because the power is not reliable. Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital has about 17 generators. The biggest generator we have can run for about 10 days.”

Eyewitness News