South Africans are breathing a huge sigh of relief after Eskom announced on Friday that loadshedding will be rolled out at stages three and four at the weekend.
“Stage six will continue until 5am on Saturday. Thereafter, stage three will be implemented until 4pm, and stage four will be implemented from 4pm until 5am on Sunday,” Eskom said.
The same cycle will be repeated on Sunday until 5am on Monday.
The power utility cited the return of units at Kendal and Kriel power stations as the reason for the downgrade in loadshedding stages.
However, Eskom warned that loadshedding stages might change again at short notice.
In March, JSE-listed companies laid bare the severe economic impact of Eskom’s power cuts, including significant extra costs and billions of rands in lost income – a dark economic cloud that has seen a whopping 685 000 hours of economic activity lost due to loadshedding.
The Foschini Group said at the time that the energy crisis profoundly impacted the economy and society, making it difficult for businesses to trade, operate and plan.
Due to power cuts, Foschini lost about 120 000 trading hours in January and February, representing 9.4 times the lost trading hours over the same two months in 2022.
The fashion retailer estimated the financial impact of loadshedding to have reduced its retail turnover by R1-billion in its 2023 financial year.
In addition, power cuts require higher inventory levels, which would reduce its gross margin, it said.
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