No load shedding is expected on Saturday as a result of a drop in demand during the holiday period and a return of some generating units to service, state-owned power utility Eskom said.

Load shedding update, 28 December 2019

Eskom said in a statement that it will “continue to use emergency reserves to supplement capacity if necessary, and added:

“We, however, remind customers that as the system continues to be vulnerable and unpredictable, the possibility of load shedding remains”.

Power alert dated 28 December 2019.As per Eskom’s power alert, breakdowns (UCLF) were at 12 535MW as at 6.30 on Saturday 28 December 2019. However, Eskom’s technical teams will continue to work over the holiday period to monitor the situation.

The teams will also be available to carry out planned maintenance and to work at reducing unplanned breakdowns to below 9 500MW to “enable the parastatal to minimise the possibility of load shedding.”

Fake news fiasco

Earlier this month, the power utility clamped down on fake news alerts. The power utility at the time issued a notice “to correct fictitious and misleading information”.

One way to prevent the spread of misinformation is to only follow Eskom’s official social media accounts as there are several parody accounts bent on spreading false information.

It is up to each South African to fact check suspicious news claims before sharing fake news on social media; and to verify that the information comes from an official source. Official handles are as follows: