SOUTH Africa is facing its worst power cuts in two years this week as state utility Eskom implements Stage 6 outages, meaning at least six hours without power a day for most South Africans.
Eskom has struggled to meet electricity demand in Africa’s most industrialised economy for over a decade, but the outages have not been this severe since December 2019.
Below are key facts about the current crisis:
Labour action
Eskom has blamed the severe outages on an unlawful labour strike which started last week. Workers staged protests at multiple Eskom facilities after salary negotiations with trade unions reached a deadlock on Tuesday.
On Monday night, 10 generations units broke down and Eskom said it was only able to restore three to service as the strike continued. This triggered “Stage 6” outages.
Similar protests over wage talks in the past have also hampered operations.
The utility is set to
You’ve reached your free article limit
Subscribe to enjoy unlimited access to trusted journalism. Cancel anytime.
Subscribe nowNeed help? molokom@insidepolitic.co.za
