Photo: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Eskom had been “forced” to escalate to stage four load-shedding on Tuesday morning after more units at two of its power stations in Mpumalanga tripped.
“Regretfully, Eskom has just been forced to implement Stage 4 load-shedding at 07:20 following Majuba Unit 5 and Tutuka Unit 4 tripping,” the power utility announced.
This is the second consecutive week South Africans have experienced rotational blackouts, which started last week Monday following the tripping of a unit at Medupi, the result of a steam air heater leak.
The utility last implemented stage four blackouts in early March. The latest stage four power cuts come amidst cabinet’s decision on Sunday, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night, to declare a national state of disaster following extensive flooding in KwaZulu-Natal that left over 400 people dead and severely disrupted road routes and the Port of Durban.
Ramaphosa said more inclement weather was expected in other provinces, and that the KwaZulu-Natal floods being declared a provincial disaster was “inadequate”.
“With the heavy rains and flooding in the Eastern Cape and indications from the South African Weather Service that the North West and Free State may also be affected by bad weather, it is clear that there are other areas of the country that need emergency intervention.
“Cabinet therefore met in a special session [on Sunday night] and decided to declare a national state of disaster,” the president said in a televised address.
Eskom did not indicate until when stage four would continue, but is set to hold a media briefing at 10am on Tuesday.