Eskom warns of high risk of load shedding this weekend

JOHANNESBURG - While South Africans ease into the last weekend of January, Eskom dropped a bombshell warning of a high risk of load shedding.

After more than 10 months of uninterrupted electricity supply, the power utility said on Friday there was a high risk of load shedding "at short notice". 

ALSO READ:

• Eskom eyes going a full year without load shedding

“This is a potentially temporary setback. Loadshedding is largely behind us due to the structural improvements in our generation fleet. However, over the past seven days, we have experienced several breakdowns that require extended repair times. This has necessitated the use of all our emergency reserves, which now need to be replenished. Consequently, we are closely monitoring the status of our current emergency reserves, and load shedding up to Stage 4 may be implemented over the weekend.” said Eskom Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane. 

Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and the power utility are expected to provide an update on the status of the country's electricity generation performance on Friday afternoon.