Eskom is struggling to keep the lights on, with almost half of South Africa's generation output now offline. But a total blackout, which would see the grid collapse under too much demand and not enough supply, is very unlikely.
South Africa is suffering under a record-long load shedding streak, which escalated to Stage 6 this week after unexpected breakdowns at its coal-fired power plants. Most of the plants are decades old and their maintenance has been postponed for years, with some backlogs dating back to 2013.