Eskom: Durban still exempt from load shedding

Rolling blackouts in the metro were suspended after the city was battered by heavy rains and floods in April.

Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha gave the update at a briefing on Wednesday.

"Agnes Mlambo, the general manager of the KwaZulu-Natal and Free State regions, has just confirmed to me that eThekwini Municipality is still exempt from load shedding because it has not fully recovered its operations after the floods. It is slowly restoring its system." 

Mantshantsha says a meeting is scheduled for this week to check on the progress.

The power utility has extended the period of load shedding from Wednesday until at least the end of the week. 

READ: Eskom warns 'likely' to increase from stage 2 as load shedding extends

From Thursday until Sunday, it begins at 5am and ends at midnight.

Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer says the load shedding might intensify. 

"Should we continue to experience breakdowns in the fleet of the coal-fired power stations, this, unfortunately, may escalate to a stage 3 or even higher. 

"This is currently what we are trying to avoid and this is why we had, unfortunately, had to implement the stage 2 load shedding 10 o'clock this morning.

"Last week, we experienced colder temperatures due to a cold front that moved across the country. Now, once again, we are experiencing colder temperatures as a second cold front hits Gauteng today."