Eskom said the decision was made after a loss of 2,700MW in the past 14 hours. It anticipates that 6,200 MW will be back in service by peak time on Monday evening.

This most recent round of rotating power outages occurred just a week and a half after Eskom abruptly decided to escalate loadshedding to stage 6 in the early hours of Sunday, 23 February, after declaring stage 3 on Saturday, 22 February 22.

“The loss of MW includes Koeberg Unit 2, which was taken offline after being brought back on Wednesday,” said the statement. “And two Kusile units whose coal operations went sub-optimal following adverse weather in the area.”

#PowerAlert1

Eskom implements Stage 3 loadshedding from 14:00 today and anticipates to be in this mode until Monday at 05:00, following 98% availability of power supply, due to loss of 2700MW over the past 14 hours. To replenish emergency reserves over the weekend –
ongoing… pic.twitter.com/t690tFZ24Y

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) March 7, 2025

“The constrained capacity has resulted in the increased reliance on emergency diesel and pumped-hydro reserves during this week, which now has to be replenished over the weekend in preparation for the business week.”

Higher levels of planned maintenance outages, aimed at winter preparation and meeting regulatory and environmental licensing requirements, are still underway.

Meanwhile, half of Bloemfontein was plunged into darkness on Friday (7/3) after a loss of power supply at the Estoire DC affecting Bayswater, Deales Gift, Estoire, Noordhoek, Olive Hill, Ribbelsdale, Vaalbank Suid, and Vallambrosa.

Centlec said updates would be provided on the estimated restoration time as soon as more information became available.

‘Teams are trying to resolve the issue’

“Our team of technicians is dispatched and working diligently to identify and resolve the issue as quickly as possible,” said Centlec spokesperson Lele Mamatu. “We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

Another emergency power outage was experienced at Naval Park due to vandalism, affecting the Arboretum, Hamilton pump station, Hilton, Naval Park, Naval Hill, part of Noordhoek, and part of Westdene.

Eskom said teams have been dispatched and are trying to resolve the issue quickly.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame dg