Eskom plans fourth day of loadshedding

Eskom said will cut 3 000 megawatts of power from the South African grid from 8 am until 11 pm on Wednesday, marking the fourth consecutive day of such measures.

Read: Splitting Eskom will protect its most strategic asset

The state-owned power utility, which supplies more than 90% of the country’s electricity, is implementing the rolling blackouts due to a shortage of generating capacity, Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said via Twitter. Water and diesel emergency reserves are “still very low” and the nationwide strike that unions have planned for Wednesday may further impact operations, Eskom said in a statement late Tuesday.

Eskom, which is projecting an annual loss of R20 billion and faces a debt burden of more than R400 billion, has been at the centre of a corruption scandal and identified as the single biggest risk to the South African economy. President Cyril Ramaphosa has said it will be split into three units in an attempt to rescue the utility.

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