"We had three units trip [on Friday], with one having been returned to service. As a result, we had to run our open cycle gas turbines as well as our pumped storage schemes to meet the demand for electricity," Eskom said in a statement.

All emergency generators remained at good levels to supplement capacity over the weekend, should the need arise. Eskom also expected some units to be returned to service from Saturday.

"Our teams continue to work around the clock to reduce the incidents of breakdowns to below 9,500MW in order to increase available capacity and limit the risk of load-shedding." The system remained constrained with unplanned outages or breakdowns at 11,431MW as at 5 pm on Friday.

"We are monitoring the system closely and we will continue to give periodic updates on the status of the power system as things may change at short notice. We ask customers to continue to use electricity wisely throughout the day and night," Eskom said.

African News Agency (ANA)