Durban - While communities across the country have been plunged into darkness thanks to rolling blackouts, Eskom says government's plans to end recurring power cuts could take at least a year to deliver results.
Africa's most industrialised economy is set for its worst year of electricity outages, despite President Cyril Ramaphosa pledging new moves to tackle the crisis in July.
State-owned Eskom implemented extensive power cuts last week and is scheduled to do so again this week.
Eskom Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer said the power giant has various plans in place.
"I believe very good plans ... However, this is going to take time to implement. For the next 12 months or so, we may not see the required benefits," he said.
Oberholzer told a news briefing that the performance of Eskom's fleet of ageing, unreliable, coal-fired power stations continued to deteriorate.
He said 42 generating units, or almost 24 000 megawatts of capacity, tripped last week, with some units breaking down more than once.
Mid-way through its financial year, Eskom has spent R7.7 billion on diesel to run emergency generators, far in excess of the budgeted amount, Oberholzer added, calling it a serious concern.
"It's really a difficult situation we find ourselves in," he told reporters.
On Wednesday, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha announced the implementation of Stage 4 load shedding on Thursday and Friday.
This is due to a shortage of generation capacity and the need to carry out unplanned maintenance of return units.
He said the extension of the Stage 4 load shedding is required due to further breakdowns of a generation unit each at Kendal and Majuba on Wednesday morning due to boiler tube leaks.
"The breakdowns during the past few days of three generating units each at Kendal and Tutuka power stations, as well as the delayed return of a unit at Camden Power Station continue to contribute to the capacity constraints. In addition, Eskom will continue with its planned maintenance to address known risks at Arnot, Kriel, Matimba, Matla and Camden power stations," Mantshantsha said.
He added that while some generation units are anticipated to return to service, it is necessary to extend load shedding to replenish the emergency generation reserves, which have been depleted by extensive utilisation over the past week.
"We currently have 5 209MW on planned maintenance, while another 16 669MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns," Mantshantsha said.