Eskom says it had no choice but to implement power cuts in order to restore its energy reserves

JOHANNESBURG - Power utility Eskom said it had no choice but to implement load shedding in order to restore its depleted energy reserves. 

The reserves, which are designed to prevent power cuts, have been exhausted due to major breakdowns at two of its best-performing power stations - Matimba and Lethabo. 

Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said that stage three load shedding would be implemented from 5pm on Friday.

The announcement comes as the country has been load-shedding-free for exactly 311 days.

He said that Eskom was working tirelessly to deal with the setback.

"We had a situation at two of our best-performing power stations, Matimba and Lethabo, where we had a number of units failing at the beginning of the week. So, that's the second matrix in the perfect storm and the third one was that there were other units that delayed in coming back, so as a result of that, that meant that for most of the week, we were burning diesel."