{"id":48582,"date":"2023-02-21T15:18:56","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T13:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnuus\/citizens-still-left-in-the-dark-20230221-2\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T04:11:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T02:11:49","slug":"citizens-still-left-in-the-dark-20230221-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/citizens-still-left-in-the-dark-20230221-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizens still left in the dark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Eskom\u2019s announcement of stage 6 load shedding will not only have an impact on residents of the Mangaung Metro, but also its surrouding areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stage 6 doubles the frequency of stage 3 in order to shed 6 000 MW from the grid to prevent the national power grid from collapsing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This could mean residents can expect blackouts at any time and without warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lele Mamatu, Centlec spokesperson, advised customers that the load shedding schedule remains the same as with previous stages and that Centlec would reduce more of the load as required by Eskom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEskom will be adding additional unscheduled power cuts wherever it needs to and outside of its schedules.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This could mean that users will be affected 18 times for four days, for up to four-and-a-half hours at a time, or 18 times over an eight day period for about two hours each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a news conference on Monday (20\/02), Andre de Ruyter, chief executive officer of Eskom, asked South Africans to use electricity as sparingly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Monde Bala, Eskom\u2019s chief of distribution, said there is an increase in equipment failure because of increased load shedding. He says it also leads to the increase in crime where power equipment is stolen when the power is down for longer periods of time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eskom\u2019s announcement of stage 6 load shedding will not only have an impact on residents of the Mangaung Metro, but also its surrouding 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