Finally! Load shedding SUSPENDED from Saturday morning

South Africans will get to enter the weekend on a positive note as Eskom has announced that load shedding has been suspended from Saturday morning, 8 October 2022. The embattled power utility had cited lower weekend demand and adequate emergency generation reserves.

“Loadshedding will be suspended at 05:00 on Saturday morning. While the generation capacity constraints persist, the suspension of loadshedding is possible due to the anticipated lower weekend demand, as well as adequate levels of emergency generation reserves,” said Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha in a brief statement.

ALSO READ

• Is he being targeted? De Ruyter finds device hidden inside car
• ‘De Ruyter must fall!’ – Business leaders, politicians want Eskom CEO fired
• De Ruyter’s ‘white privilege’ why he’s keeping his job, critics say

DON’T GET TOO EXCITED… LOAD SHEDDING STILL LIKELY

Eskom has given no indication as to exactly how long the load shedding will remain suspended, but if history has taught us anything, don’t get too excited. The parastatal is expected to give an update on the state of the grid on Sunday, or as soon as there are any significant changes.

“Since yesterday afternoon a generation unit each at Camden, Grootvlei, Hendrina, Kendal, Kriel, Majuba and Tutuka power stations have returned to service. A generating unit at Duvha Power Station was taken offline for repairs. We currently have 5 512MW on planned maintenance, while another 13 484MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns”

Sikonathi Mantshantsha, Eskom spokesperson

Mantshantsha has reminded South Africans that load shedding is only implemented as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns.

Earlier this week, Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter said power cuts should start easing within the next 10 days when big generation units are expected to come back online.

View the full article