However, the current Stage 4 power reduction pales in comparison to those implemented during the last months of 2022, when a daily reduction of some six thousand megawatts (MW), Stage 6, became necessary.

The cause of the temporary worsening of blackouts is due, according to the state electricity company, Eskom, to a delay in the return to service of seven generating units.

Additional delays in bringing into service one generating unit each at Arnot, Camden, Kendal, Kriel, Matla and two units at the Majuba power plant have contributed to the capacity constraints, the company said in a statement.

Currently, it says, we have 6014 MW under planned maintenance, while another 17278 MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns and additional delays in returning generators to the national power system.

Stage 4 is imposed to compensate for the lack of four thousand megawatts (MW).

This means that consumers are scheduled to have an electricity cut 12 times during a four-day period, for two hours at a time, or 12 times during an eight-day period for four hours each of the outages.

Eskom expects, he said, to return to the previous Stage 3 outages in the next few days once the current contingencies are resolved.

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