The Eskom electricity utility has announced that it will suspend load shedding from 8 p.m. on Friday.

In a statement issued, the power company said generation capacity had sufficiently recovered and demand was declining over the long weekend.

“Eskom is pleased to announce that the load shedding will be suspended from 8 pm tonight, as production capacity has sufficiently recovered and demand decreases over the long weekend.

“In the past 24 hours, Eskom’s teams have put three-generation units back into service. This, combined with the expected demand for the long weekend, sufficiently reduced the strain on the system, allowing Eskom to suspend the load shedding, ”the power company said.

He said that a unit in each of the power plants in Majuba, Arnot and Tutuka has been brought back into service, allowing a new replenishment of emergency production reserves to acceptable levels.

Total outages currently stand at 14,618 MW while planned maintenance is 4,855 MW of capacity.

“Eskom wishes to remind customers and the public that load shedding is implemented as a last resort to maintain the stability of the power system,” he said.

He also apologized for the inconvenience caused to all citizens, especially 12th graders who are currently studying for their final exams.

The electric utility has also asked the public to continue to use electricity sparingly and will communicate quickly in the event of major changes to the power system.

Initially, Eskom implemented the Stage 2 load shedding last week until Monday, however, constraints led the utility to extend this until Friday.

Earlier this week, the South Africans were subjected to a Stage 4 load shedding, until Thursday evening, when Eskom announced their move to Stage 3.

Eskom suspends power cuts from 8 p.m. Friday