ICYMI: Stage 3 load shedding to continue on Sunday

REMINDER: South Africans will still have to put up with Stage 3 load shedding on Sunday, 2 October 2022, at least until Monday morning at 05:00. The embattled parastatal had downgraded the rolling blackouts from Stage 4 on Saturday morning after a generating unit at its Camden Power Station returned to service.

ALSO READ: Load shedding updates: Schedules and latest news

BRACE FOR MORE LOAD SHEDDING

All indications are that Eskom will implement load shedding again this week, but the power utility is expected to shed some light on that as well as the state of the grid on Sunday afternoon.

The utility had said it needed the weekend to replenish the dam levels at the pumped storage schemes, which were utilised extensively to complement generation capacity.

“In addition to all the eight Camden Power Station units that were taken offline due to de-mineralised water contamination last night as a result of the incorrect valve being opened, a generating unit at Kriel Power Station was also taken offline for repairs,” said spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha in a statement.

Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter has said he is confident that the rolling blackouts would come to an end soon.

“I think the risk is always there. As I’ve said, we are doing this to catch up maintenance but these are all plants that have been poorly maintained and as anyone who owns an old car will know, once you start fixing things, the other things start to break down as well, so there is always going to be a residual risk,” he said, explaining what went wrong with the grid.