Stage one rotational load shedding was implemented at 2.15pm on Sunday afternoon and is likely to continue until 10pm on Sunday night “to preserve emergency resources”, state-owned power utility Eskom said.

“Customers are reminded to treat all electrical points as live during load shedding,” Eskom said in a statement.

“Customers are advised to keep checking their load shedding schedules on the Eskom and their municipal website, and to plan on the assumption that load shedding will take place.

“We continue to appeal to residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly during this period. Please switch off geysers as well as all non-essential lighting and electricity appliances to assist in reducing demand,” Eskom said.

Eskom customers could find the load shedding schedules on the Eskom website, or contact the customer contact centre at 0860-037-566.

Customers should note that some municipalities took longer to restore load once load shedding ended. This was to allow for switching off the network in a way that would not damage the power system.

“If customers experience outages for longer periods than announced, please contact your supplier (Eskom or the municipality) as this may be a localised power outage.” Eskom did not provide any further reason for the sudden load shedding.

– African News Agency (ANA)

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