"Eskom is not load shedding today and there is no load shedding expected on New Year’s Day primarily as a result of a drop in demand during the holiday period and the expected return of some generating units to service," said the state company, which has been forced to implement rotational power cuts several times this year.

In a statement, the utility said it would continue to use emergency reserves to supplement capacity if necessary, warning consumers that the possibility of load shedding remained while the system remained vulnerable and unpredictable.

"Our technical teams will continue to work over the holiday period to monitor the situation, to carry out planned maintenance and to work at reducing unplanned breakdowns to below 9,500 MW to enable us to minimise the possibility of loadshedding," said Eskom.

African News Agency