Eskom ramps up power cuts to stage 3, weekend to see reduced load shedding

Households and businesses will only have a small window of uninterrupted power this weekend as Eskom announces its outlook.

Eskom ramps up power cuts to stage 3, weekend to see reduced load shedding

JOHANNESBURG - Households and businesses will only have a small window of uninterrupted power this weekend as Eskom announces its outlook.

The ailing utility reinstated load shedding for the first time in almost three weeks after the New Year celebrations.

Eskom said that stage 3 load shedding would be implmented on Friday afternoon, followed by a downgrade to stage 1 on Saturday.

The country will then see a slight reprieve on Sunday when the power supplier suspends power cuts briefly.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said that the lower stages of load shedding were as a result of the recovery of some generation units and lower demand.

"Stage 3 load shedding will be implemented today [Friday] at 16:00 until 05:00 on Saturday as previously communicated, followed by stage 1 load shedding until 16:00. Thereafter, stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 16:00 until 05:00 on Sunday. Load shedding will then be suspended from 05:00 until 16:00 on Sunday and stage 1 load shedding will resume from 16:00 until 05:00 on Monday."