Cape Town - Eskom started with load shedding on Friday early afternoon.
Stage one allows for up to 1 000 MW of the national load to be shed.
"We had to start with load shedding because the system is very tight, but there is not a complete collapse," a spokesperson told Fin24.
The spokesperson said various reasons caused the decision to kick off with load shedding. Firstly, there were issues with water levels at water management plants at the Drakensberg and Palmiet power generation stations.
Secondly, there were technical faults at various power stations, including boiler tube leaks.
The spokesperson said load shedding was planned until 20:00 on Friday evening, but Eskom might have to resort to more load shedding at the weekend if this proved necessary.
"We would purposely do it on the weekend to try and limit the impact on the economy," the spokesperson said.
For more information on the load shedding, see here.
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