‘Have we reached rock bottom yet?’ — anger as stage 4 load-shedding hits for the rest of the week

by · TimesLIVE
Eskom announced on Monday that ongoing generation capacity shortages meant there would be increased rolling blackouts countrywide until 5am on Friday. Stock photo.Image: 123RF/Choneschones

Eskom’s decision to ramp up load-shedding to stage 4 for the rest of the week has been met with anger and frustration online, with some questioning if it has links to the recent election results.

The power utility announced on Monday that ongoing generation capacity shortages meant there would be increased rolling blackouts countrywide until 5am on Friday.

Stage 2 load-shedding will continue from Friday until 5am on Saturday.

“While Eskom regrets the escalation in load-shedding, it is necessary to ration the remaining emergency generation reserves which have been used extensively this morning as we are not getting the reduction in demand expected from the implementation of stage 2 load-shedding.”

It said a generating unit at Arnot power station tripped on Monday morning and further contributed to the shortages.

“It was anticipated an additional seven units would have returned to service by Monday, but this has not materialised,” Eskom said.

The announcement was met with fury on social media as “stage 4” topped the Twitter trends list.

Angry users complained how blackouts affect schooling, businesses and the economy in general. They demanded answers from those in power.

Here’s a look at some reactions: