Eskom has warned that rolling blackouts could be ramped up to Stage Six on Monday evening.
This is due to the breakdown of ten generation units overnight.
The management of the power utility says the workers who have downed tools, have exacerbated the situation because the illegal strike action lead to heavy delays in planned maintenance and repairs.
The last time Eskom implemented Stage Six rolling blackouts was in December 2019.
Chief Operating Officer, Jan Oberholzer, admits that there is a high risk of moving to Stage Six.
“I need to stress: the risk of moving to Stage Six load shedding is high, that’s where we find ourselves. We will try whatever we can to avoid it, but the risk is significant.”
Oberholzer says if this goes ahead, it would mean South Africans will be without power for six hours per day.
“You can expect at least six hours of load shedding, during the day. How it may be split, by whoever is your supply authority – in batches of two hours or three hours – I don’t know. But typically you can expect not to have electricity available for about a period of six hours over 24 hours.”
