The Department of Basic Education is urging Eskom and guardians of grade 12 learners to help ease the pressure during their final exams which kick off this week.

Hundreds of thousands of matric students are writing their final English Paper One amid Stage 2 loadshedding this morning.

Other final language papers will also be written this afternoon.

The National Senior Certificate Exam runs from October 27 until December 7.

Eskom yesterday announced R170 billion in capacity expansion projects to get power to distribution centres over the next ten years. The ailing power utility recently said it will be working alongside coal suppliers, Exxaro Resources and Seriti Resources, to shift to renewable energy investments.

VOC