"Load shedding will take place at very short notice... if demand for electricity increases," said a spokesperson. Compared to other electricity providers, which have a minimum of 15 percent reserve power for emergencies, Eskom has just 7 percent. Despite the prospect of consumers forking out more for electricity, there are few signs the situation will improve in the short term. The country's power shortages have been the result of problems with Eskom's generating plants, negative weather conditions, distribution network problems and voltage instability on the transmission network.
Sipho Neke, the Eskom spokesperson, said load shedding took place on a rotational basis, limited to two hours per area. Where possible, Eskom tried to avoid switching off power in areas with critical services such as hospitals or economic hubs. Eskom has warned that load shedding would become a part of life for South Africans over the next five years - effectively signalling the 2010 World Cup could be affected by power cuts. "We acknowledge that power outages have a major impact on both households and businesses in terms of inconvenience and loss of revenue," said Vimla Maistry, the spokesperson for the Department of Public Enterprises.
