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South Africa Passes 200 Days of Power Cuts as 2022 Draws to a Close

Nightfall in the Berea district of Johannesburg, on Dec. 22. — Nightfall in the Berea district of Johannesburg, on Dec. 22.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

By

Khuleko Siwele and

December 27, 2022, 9:12 AM UTCUpdated onDecember 27, 2022, 10:43 AM UTC

South Africa passed 200 days of power cuts in 2022 on Tuesday, with more to come.

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. said it will ramp up power cuts from so-called stage-1 load shedding, where it removes 1,000 megawatts from the grid, to stage 3 from 4 p.m. local tine until 5 a.m. for the rest of the week. It will cut 2,000 megawatts from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, the utility said on Twitter. Eskom has implemented record rotational blackouts this year because its old and poorly maintained power stations continually break down.