04 Feb South Africa faces first power cuts in 10 months

South African businesses and households faced scheduled power cuts for the first time in 10 months on Friday due to breakdowns at Eskom, the state power company.

Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced that Eskom had run low on reserve power and would implement ‘Stage 3′ cuts, meaning up to 3,000 megawatts would be removed from the national grid.

These outages began at 5 pm and were expected to last until at least midnight on Sunday. Ramokgopa referred to the situation as a ’emporary setback,’ emphasising that South Africa is still working towards eliminating electricity outages.

Although power cuts have hindered economic growth for over a decade, there have been none since March of last year due to improved performance from Eskom.

The company recently announced it expected its first annual profit in eight years, helped by government support.

However, a recent decision by the energy regulator allowed Eskom to raise prices by an average of 12.7 per cent, which is much lower than it hoped for, limiting its ability to manage rising costs.