State-owned utility Eskom announced on Saturday that power cuts, which have been occurring almost daily for months in South Africa, had been suspended “until further notice”.
Eskom spokeswoman Daphne Mokwena told the press that load shedding, which could last up to twelve hours, had been suspended thanks to improved production capacity and a drop in demand.
Ms Mokwena also indicated on Twitter that “Eskom will immediately communicate any significant changes”, although for the moment the company has not specified how long South Africans will be able to live without power cuts thanks to these improvements.
At this point, Ms Mokwena stressed that it was not possible to predict how long the blackout would last, and called on the public to cooperate by monitoring their consumption, while warning that load shedding could restart at any time.
South Africa is in the grip of a profound electricity crisis that has worsened since last year. Days without any power cuts are rare.
The state-owned company, which supplies the vast majority of the country’s electricity, is unable to produce enough because of its failing coal-fired power stations. As a result, it imposes scheduled load shedding, which costs the economy more than 50 million dollars a day in lost production, according to the government.
Eskom is also racked by debt after years of mismanagement and corruption under President Jacob Zuma.