SOUTH AFRICA - AS WE FACE ROLLING BLACKOUTS, ANC DEPUTY PRESIDENT SAYS RAMAPHOSA 'MISLED' WHEN HE WAS TOLD NO LOADSHEDDING BETWEEN 17 DECEMBER & 13 JANUARY

ANC deputy president David Mabuza says President Cyril Ramaphosa was misled when he was told that there will be no load-shedding between 17 December and 13 January.

Mabuza was speaking to journalists during a walk-about in Kimberley where the governing party is preparing its 108th birthday celebration on Saturday.

"They misled the president right on the day. We went with the president [and] I insisted on the problem of Eskom maintenance of these power stations is very important.

"You can't say there won't be load-shedding if there is no maintenance."

Mabuza said the major problem facing Eskom is one of maintenance and stated the need for new power stations to increase capacity for power generation.

Eskom implemented Stage 2 load-shedding which will continue into Friday morning.

Eskom warned on Thursday that stage 2 load shedding for the evening would continue into Friday morning, adding that it was likely stage 2 would continue through throughout that day.

The statement was shared by the power utility on Thursday evening through social networking site, Twitter.

The statement said the system remained heavily constrained and unpredictable, with breakdowns  of 13 476 MW as at 18:00, necessitating the implementation of stage 2 load shedding overnight and into Friday morning.

"Our teams will be working flat-out tonight to return units to service. However, we anticipate that there will be a need for continued load shedding throughout the day tomorrow," the statement said.

The statement said Eskom would update the country on Friday morning on the success of its efforts in restoring capacity to the system.

via - ENCA / Eskom / NEWS24