Eskom quicky escalated its rotational blackouts from stage two to stage four on Saturday, despite demand over weekends typically being lower than on weekdays when industry is consuming more electricity.

Stage four involves shedding a massive 4GW of load from the national electricity grid and means most consumers will be affected at some point during the day by the rolling blackouts.

Eskom blamed the loss of an additional 900MW of power imports from Mozambique for the interruptions. Stage four would be implemented from midday on Saturday, it said.

The upgrade to stage four came just 35 minutes after the state-owned power monopoly said it was moving rotational load shedding from stage two to stage three.

It urged residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly. This included switching off geysers and all non-essential lighting and electrical appliances to assist in reducing demand. — (c) 2019 NewsCentral Media