Bad to worse: Stage 5 load shedding on Monday

Eskom will implement stage 5 load shedding on Monday in a bid to keep the lights on and the country from national power crises.

#POWERALERT1#Stage4 loadshedding will be implemented at 17:00 this afternoon until 16:00 on Monday. Various stages of loadshedding will be implemented during the week pic.twitter.com/UlfcFPBYlx

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) November 20, 2022

The national power utility said Stage 5 load shedding will kick in on Monday evening, while different stages of load shedding will kick in later throughout the week.

Citizens can expect stage 5 load shedding from 4 PM until midnight.

Fluctuating blackouts will continue throughout the week with load shedding stages expected to meander between stages 2 and 4.

The increase in load shedding stage comes as the utility has had issues with diesel generation due to breakdowns.

The power utility did announce it’s decision to suspend load shedding only to later make a U-turn for load shedding to be reinstated on Sunday afternoon.

The power utility has been on a cycle of power outages for months.

At the rate of power outages, residents may have a dark festive season a challenge even the business sector cannot afford.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) announced it’s new product offering to have their content accessible for streaming last week.

The SABC announced their SABC plus platform as their answer to digital competitors.

The SABC’s streaming app plans to provide 19 radio stations and three free to air television channels namely SABC 1, SABC 2, SABC 3 including SABC sports and their 24 hour news channel.

While the product offering shows progress into a new way of producing content for viewers, the SABC has also felt the pinch of load shedding.

The SABC’s traditional modes of broadcasting which rely on dishes and TV’s have been impacted negatively by the recurring power outages.

This translates into direct financial losses for the national broadcaster due to average minute ratings largely impacted.

The average minute ratings are effectively used as leverage to trade in airtime/ad space with advertisers.

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