Widespread power blackouts keep ravaging S. Africa

CAPE TOWN, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Eskom has announced that South Africans would face a full day of Stage 4 load shedding Sunday as it battled a shortage of capacity, including a worst power blackout since February.

Beginning from 8:00 a.m. local time, embattled electricity utility Eskom implemented the highest level of load shedding in months, which will stay till 11:00 p.m., said the state-run parastatal, which provides about 95 percent of electricity consumed in South Africa.

"We are currently load shedding in Stage 4 due to high demand or urgent maintenance being performed at certain power stations," according to Eskom.

The load shedding has continued since Saturday as a result of tropical cyclone Idai in Mozambique.

South Africa is so dependent on electricity imports from neighboring countries that a loss of 1,100 megawatts from Mozambique forced Eskom to implement Stage 4 load shedding, which allows for up to 4000 MW of the national load to be shed.

Stage 4 is the most severe load shedding that has been implemented twice, with the previous one in February.

The disaster came despite a pledge by the government to coordinate efforts to defuse the power shortage that has continued for years.

The government vowed earlier this week to bring financial, operational and structural sustainability to Eskom in an earnest manner.

The government said it has received a report from Deputy President David Mabuza on the work of a joint special cabinet committee on Eskom that was established in response to the recent electricity supply disruptions and its negative impact on the economy.

South Africa has incurred an estimated economic loss of some 300 billion rand (20.7 billion U.S. dollars) due to power cuts since 2008. Last February, the heavily-indebted Eskom introduced the toughest load shedding in recent years, disrupting economic activities and seriously affecting people's lives. Sporadic load sheddings have since followed.

Eskom has been criticized for poor management and corruption over a decade-old power shortage in South Africa. The utility insisted that load shedding be conducted rotationally as a measure of last resort to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout. Enditem