Eskom has announced that stage two load shedding will be implemented from 4pm this afternoon following a shortage of generating capacity.

On Tuesday morning, the power utility warned that the power system was under severe constraint.

At least 17 933MW of energy has been lost to breakdowns.

“This morning a generation unit at Kusile Power Station tripped, adding to the constraints. A unit each at Matimba and Arnot power stations failed to return to service as previously anticipated,” Eskom said.

The power utility said although it plans to halt load shedding on Wednesday morning, it may be extended.

“These constraints are expected to persist for the rest of the week which may require the load shedding to be extended. We are currently utilising emergency generation reserves extensively to supplement supply,” the utility said.

Meanwhile, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has said that it does not expect load shedding to affect vote counting.

“Discussions are underway to insulate capturing sites in order to minimise the impact on the results collation process. The National Results Operations Centre does have generators which will be used in the event load shedding affects the Pretoria West area,” the Commission said.

Source: South African Government News Agency