Cape Town -- Power utility Eskom announced it will be suspending load shedding from 8pm on Friday.
In a statement released, the power utility said generation capacity has sufficiently recovered and the demand reduces over the long weekend.
“Eskom is pleased to announce that load shedding will be suspended from 8pm this evening as generation capacity has sufficiently recovered and the demand reduces over the long weekend.
“Over the past 24 hours Eskom teams have returned three generation units to service. This, together with the expected long weekend demand, has sufficiently reduced the constraints on the system, allowing Eskom to suspend load shedding,” the power utility said.
It said a unit each at the Majuba, Arnot and Tutuka power stations have returned to service, allowing further replenishment of emergency generation reserves to acceptable levels.
The total breakdowns currently amount to 14 618MW while planned maintenance is 4 855MW of capacity.
“Eskom would like to remind customers and the public that load shedding is implemented as a last resort to maintain stability of the power system,” it said.
It also apologised for the inconvenience to all citizens, especially Grade 12s who are currently studying for their final exams.
The power utility has also requested the public to continue using electricity sparingly and will communicate promptly should there be any significant changes to the power system.
Initially, Eskom implemented Stage 2 load shedding last week until Monday, however, constraints led the power utility to extend this until Friday.
Earlier this week South Africans were subjected to Stage 4 load shedding, until Thursday evening when Eskom announced its move to Stage 3.