Brace for stage eight power cuts

Stage seven and eight load-shedding could be on the cards. Consumers are set to bear the brunt of Eskom’s continued meltdown, putting further strain on households and businesses.

The power utility announced it had breakdowns totalling 17 800MW of capacity, in addition to planned maintenance of 5 400MW, together taking 23 200MW, which translates to 47% of capacity, off the grid.

Stage six means 6 000MW must be dropped from the grid to avoid a total system shutdown.

Eskom has struggled to meet electricity demand in the country, implementing stage six for the fourth time this year. The power cuts would leave some users without power for more than 10 hours a day.