Eskom issues warning as powerful winter system approaches

A powerful winter weather system, approaching South Africa from the west, has prompted Eskom to ask the public to reduce the usage of electricity to prevent possible load shedding.

“The South African Weather Service warned yesterday that wet, windy and cold conditions are expected in some parts of the country this week as a result of a cold front. Following this warning, Eskom would like to appeal to the members of the public to continue using electricity sparingly,” it said.

The weather system, which has already made landfall in the Western Cape, is expected to bring bitterly cold — although mostly dry — weather to the rest of South Africa.

Johannesburg is forecast to plunge to a maximum of 11°C on Tuesday and to -2°C on Wednesday morning, according to the Weather Service. Bloemfontein in the Free State will have a maximum of 9°C on Tuesday and will plunge to -9°C in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

“Eskom has not implemented load shedding since 13 June due to some improvement in the performance of the generation fleet,” the company said. “The system is currently performing relatively well. However, the cold front will increase the demand for electricity, thereby putting pressure on the power system.”

The utility said it will “communicate promptly should there be any significant changes to the performance of the system”.

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