Cape Town - Eskom will start implementing stage 1 load shedding from 16:00 to 22:00 on Monday due to shortage of capacity, the power utility tweeted.
This followed an earlier warning on twitter of a high risk of load shedding as the power system remains extremely constrained and another early morning of a 50% probability of load shedding.
"The power system remains constrained and will remain so for the rest of this week. We, therefore, urge all electricity customers to reduce their consumption in order to reduce the severity of load shedding," Eskom said in a statement issued by mid afternoon on Monday.
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The temporary breather for South Africans on Monday morning followed six consecutive days of power cuts as Eskom struggles with a series of problems, including unplanned outages due to technical faults and a shortage of generation capacity.
Eskom meanwhile also shut a 930 megawatt unit at its Koeberg nuclear power station for three months to perform regular maintenance, reports Reuters.
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"There are several units that had been expected to return from maintenance on Monday that are now delayed due to further technical problems," Eskom said in its latest statement.
Eskom again called on all customers to reduce the load on the electricity grid by urgently switching off geysers, air conditioners, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances throughout the day, which will reduce electricity demand.
Commercial customers, particularly shopping centres and office blocks, can also make a big difference by switching off non-essential lights and not leaving office equipment such as photocopiers and computers in standby mode after hours.