Expect power cuts 3x a week
2008-03-30 09:06
Special Report
Eskom is set to seek a 34% hike in electricity tariffs, back from the 88% rise it had been considering due to the global economic slowdown, a newspaper says.
Johannesburg - Load shedding will hit the country from Monday, regardless of whether there is enough electricity for the country or not.
But on Sundays, there will be no power cuts.
Eskom hopes that scheduled load shedding will cause fewer disruptions, as people will be able to plan for the blackouts.
Every municipality will inform consumers through programme schedules about when the load shedding will happen.
This new phase of load shedding will continue for three months.
See it as power rationing, said Dickie Govender, spokesperson of Johannesburg City Power, told Rapport.
Even if there is enough power, loadshedding will give Eskom's technicians the opportunity to do necessary maintenance to generators.
Eskom has said the power cuts will last for two to two-and-a-half hours. Consumers may expect power cuts every second day, but will not have more than three cuts a week.
- Rapport