Widespread power cuts, known as load-shedding, have returned to South Africa following a brief reprieve over the festive period. The blackouts are implemented to prevent a complete collapse of the overstretched electricity grid.
State-owned power utility Eskom announced that load-shedding would be in effect from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday. The power cuts are set to escalate from stage two to stage three, meaning South Africans can anticipate blackouts up to nine times a day over a four-day period, lasting two hours each time, or nine times over an eight-day span, with each blackout lasting four hours.
Eskom explained on the social media platform X that load-shedding had been suspended for 18 days from late December to New Year’s Day, marking the longest period without such cuts since the summer of 2022.
