Eskom will rely on diesel to keep the lights on for the local government elections.
It comes on the back of stage four load-shedding announced on Wednesday morning.
“Over the past 24 hours a unit each at Medupi, Kusile and Matla power stations tripped while a unit each at Lethabo and Arnot power stations were forced to shut down. This constrained the power system further, requiring extensive use of emergency reserves and therefore, hampering the recovery of these reserves,” Eskom said.