Eskom has announced that it will implement Stage 3 loadshedding from 17:00 on January 31, after warning earlier in the day that there was a high risk of loadshedding.
 
“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 loadshedding up to Stage 4 may be implemented over the weekend,” Eskom Group CE Dan Marokane said on Friday morning.

Eskom noted in a media briefing on Friday afternoon that six units were currently down, removing 3 600 MW from the grid.

This is the first time Eskom has had to implement loadshedding in ten months.