Cape Town – Eskom has announced the suspension of stage 2 load shedding from 5 a.m. on Wednesday, following significant progress in replenishing its generation capacity and emergency reserves.
The power utility had escalated load shedding to stage 6 in the early hours of Sunday due to a combination of unplanned breakdowns and high demand.
However, as generation units returned to service and emergency reserves improved, Eskom was able to gradually downgrade the rolling blackouts.
Following the recovery of the generation capacity and replenishment of emergency
reserves, loadshedding will be suspended at 5:00 AM pic.twitter.com/gtnZUtwOoI— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) February 26, 2025
In a statement, Eskom confirmed that its system had stabilised sufficiently to allow for the suspension of load shedding.
“Eskom is pleased to announce that load shedding will be suspended from 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 26 February 2025, following the recovery of generation capacity and significant progress in replenishing emergency reserves. Although overnight replenishment is still needed, these developments will result in a stable power system,” the utility said.
While this suspension offers temporary relief, Eskom emphasised that planned maintenance remains ongoing, with 6,660MW of capacity currently offline as part of its summer maintenance strategy.
This approach is aimed at ensuring improved reliability heading into the winter months, when electricity demand traditionally rises.
Addressing public concerns
The announcement comes amid public frustration over the frequent shifts in load-shedding stages. Eskom has faced scrutiny over its ability to manage the power grid effectively, particularly after implementing stage 6 load shedding on Sunday, which many feared signaled another prolonged period of severe power cuts.
Adding to the debate, Eskom CEO Dan Marokane on Monday dismissed claims that the stage 6 blackouts were linked to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) rejecting Eskom’s requested tariff hike.
Eskom had initially applied for a 36.15% electricity tariff increase for the 2026 financial year, followed by 11.81% in 2027 and 9.10% in 2028. However, in January, Nersa approved only a 12.7% increase, which some speculated could have impacted Eskom’s operational capacity.
Looking ahead
Despite the current suspension, Eskom has warned that further developments in the power system could necessitate changes to the load-shedding schedule. The utility said it would provide another update on Friday, 28 February 2025, or sooner if significant changes occur.
Marokane expressed optimism that the situation would continue to improve.
“We’ve made tremendous progress since Saturday night. We had brought eight of the ten units back online. Now, we are building up stock on the fuel for the open-cycle gas turbines. We have some more units coming back,” he said.
While the immediate crisis has been averted, South Africans remain cautious, with many hoping Eskom can sustain its recovery and prevent another escalation in blackouts.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
