The utility issued two statements this week warning of a constrained system due to the breakdowns, and asked customers to use electricity sparingly to avoid rotational blackouts. 

"The returning generation units and the public’s responsible electricity consumption have helped improve the system this evening," said the company via a statement. 

"[On Thursday] Eskom teams successfully recovered four generation units that had broken down over the past few days, resulting in a much improved generation system over the next few days.

"Our teams worked around the clock to return to service the units that had broken down at Kendal, Lethabo, Tutuka and Majuba power stations. A generation unit at Duvha is expected to return to service later this evening."

The company said the "extraordinary efforts" by its teams "in the challenging working environment brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, added more than 3 000MW to the generation system [on Thursday night]".

Eskom thanked South Africans for their assistance in using electricity sparingly over the past two days, saying: "Together we managed to supply the evening peak demand."

"While the system is in a much better shape to meet demand over the next few days, we urge the public to continue managing consumption responsibly by switching off non-essential appliances in order to maintain the integrity of the system."

African News Agency