Joburg hit by widespread power outages

Suburbs across Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic hub, were hit by widespread power outages on Friday.

State-owned power utility Eskom has not implemented rolling blackouts in the city, Andrew Etzinger, Eskom’s acting head of generation, said via a mobile phone text message. A spokesman for Johannesburg’s City Power wasn’t immediately able to comment.

Eskom said earlier on Friday that there was a risk of blackouts because the power system “remained tight and vulnerable” and the power could be cut at short notice if there was a shift in plant performance. “This could include a significant loss in generating plant due to unplanned technical breakdowns,” Eskom said.