South Africans told to brace themselves for ‘everlasting’ Stage 6 load shedding

The embattled power utility, Eskom, is grasping at straws as it battles to keep the lights on, and with the continuous load shedding, the utility says South Africans will have to normalise excessive power cuts.

South Africa has been plunged into energy crisis since last year due to the severe capacity constraints facing the power utility.

Eskom implemented Stage 6 load shedding yesterday following the breakdown of 11 generators.

In a statement Eskom said, the units that faced a breakdown resulted from these power stations, Camden, Duvha, Grootvlei, Hendrina and Kendal, Kriel, Majuba and Matla.

Eskom didn’t give in depth when should the citizens expect the end of the Stage 6 load shedding. “Stage 6 load shedding will be implemented from 4pm on Wednesday continuously until further notice,” addressed Eskom in a statement.

The utility said the breakdowns amount to over 5 084MW of capacity, further reducing available capacity and necessitating the increase in the stages of load shedding, this means South Africans will endure more days of power cuts.

Meanwhile, finance minister Enoch Godongwana has reiterated that government has pledged to end blackouts and with trasury department looking for ways to reconcile Eskom’s debt, but without giving a clear direction when will this be attended to.

“Government remains committed to taking over Eskom’s debt to ensure the utility is able to restore its coal-fired power stations, and we’ll ensure Eskom has a healthy balance sheet,” Godongwana said.