Eskom's crisis deepens: Stage 4 loadshedding extended as capacity woes escalate

• Eskom has announced that Stage 4 loadshedding will be extended from Monday until Saturday
• The power utility explained that the severe measures are due to challenges in generating capacity
• South Africans are growing tired of living with the blackouts and expressed their anger on social media

Eskom released a statement about the weeks’ loadshedding. Image: Waldo Swiegers and stock photo Source: Getty Images

JOHANNESBURG – Eskom has issued a statement revealing Stage 4 load-shedding will be implemented from 2pm today until 5am on Saturday.

The decision stems from increased challenges in generating capacity, prompting Eskom to take measures to manage the power grid.

Eskom shares capacity challenges

In the latest update, Eskom reported a rise in unplanned outages, increasing the generating capacity from 15,386MW to 15,424MW.

Even out-of-service units escalated from 5,617MW to 6,280MW, signalling the severity of the capacity struggles faced by Eskom.

Despite the grim situation, Eskom anticipates the return of about 1,300MW in generating capacity by Tuesday evening.

Eskom’s plea to the public

The power utility said teams are working tirelessly to speed up the restoration of additional generating units to service.

Eskom appealed to the public to conserve electricity and play a role in alleviating the strain on the power grid.

See the post below:

SA frustrated by Eskom

Read some comments below:

@goolammv said:

“You guys are so predictable. Absolutely useless. Nobody knows what they doing. You taking South Africans for fools.”

@Bound2Liberty posted:

“The clowns are running the circus again!”

@SNjotini mentioned:

“Stage 4 is in reality Stage 6. What we experienced on Friday and Saturday was Stage 8. They are never going to fix it, they are just managing it so as not to collapse.”

@demidashgod7 stated:

“Back to stage 6 by tomorrow at 12:00 akere?”

@malumzskhulu posted:

“Stop updating us. Switch off if you need to. We don’t care.”

@AidanAfrica added:

“Cue Stage 6 in a few hours time. “

@Nkosi_Dlamini_ tweeted:

“Congratulations, love the consistent failure.”

Eskom reduces loadshedding from Stage 6 to Stage 4

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Eskom made an announcement on Sunday morning, 26 November 2023 that from midday, loadshedding would be reduced to Stage 4.

Eskom released a statement saying enforcing Stage 6 load-shedding for a few days has allowed the company to replenish emergency reserves at its pumped storage and open cycle gas turbine (OCGT) power stations.