Eskom has announced that it will implement stage 1 load shedding from 17:00 on Thursday, after nine days of no load shedding. They said on Twitter that it would likely end at 22:00.

The City of Cape Town tweeted on Thursday that its residents need not worry. “Despite Eskom’s call for load shedding, the city will not implement it due to its own spare generation capacity,” it tweeted.

Earlier on Thursday, the power utility said “Eskom has not implemented load shedding for the past nine days”.

“However, the power system is very constrained and vulnerable throughout the day today, with a high risk of load shedding being implemented at short notice,” Eskom said in a statement.

“This is due to a number of Eskom’s generating units being unavailable as a result of technical faults.

“As we are currently experiencing cold weather conditions across the country, we urge electricity users to consider energy efficient ways of keeping warm.

“In winter the electricity demand peaks in the morning and evening as more electricity is used during these times.

“We appeal to all our customers to continue to reduce their electricity usage throughout the day but to be aware of the need to save more during the peak periods from 06:00 to 10:00 and 17:00 to 21:00.

“Commercial customers, particularly shopping centres and office blocks, can also make a big difference by switching off non-essential lights and not leaving office equipment such as photocopiers and computers in standby mode after hours.

“Eskom will provide regular updates on the status of the power system through all the media platforms.” news24