Eskom has announced that stage 4 loadshedding will continue to be implemented from 5am on Monday until Wednesday. Unlawful industrial action at various Eskom power stations has impacted planned maintenance and repairs, and at some stations, the full complement of workers has not reported for duty. As a result, the power utility said the power cuts would be implemented every day until midnight.
“Eskom regrets to inform the public that stage 4 loadshedding is anticipated to continue from 05h00 on Monday morning until midnight at least until Wednesday. This is due to unlawful and unprotected labour action at a number of power stations, which has caused delays in carrying out planned maintenance and repairs. Furthermore, at a number of power stations, the full staff compliment has not reported for duty,” the power utility said.
“As a result, unplanned generation losses have not been reduced as planned, which has compelled Eskom to continue taking precautionary measures to conserve generation capacity and safeguard plant from damage. There is a possibility that the stage of load shedding may have to change at short notice, depending on the state of the plant and the availability of labour.”
Eskom had 3,894 MW on planned maintenance, while another 15,472MW was lost as a result of breakdowns. “Currently, approximately 4000MW of generation capacity is at risk dure to illegal strike action.”
The power utility appealed to its labour partners and protesting employees to put the people of South Africa first and respect the law of the country.
