SOUTH AFRICANS were promised the end of load shedding is near.
This was said by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation (Sona) on Thursday, 8 February.
But many woke up to the extended and dreaded stage six. Stage six load shedding means at least eight to 12 hours blackouts per day.
Frustrated businesspeople said stage six came at the wrong time.
Zingiswa Motola said she was running a food business and weekends meant many customers.
"I sell fish and chips, and my business is close to a tavern. I make decent money on weekends. This load shedding is frustrating. This is not the time. The government keeps making false promises," she said.
Businessman Alberto Joah said he had customers waiting for their cars to be spray-painted and load shedding had thrown him off the track.
"One of my customers was supposed to get his car on Sunday, but clearly with this load shedding I may not be able to complete the job on time."
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He said he has a generator but with the high price of petrol, he was struggling to fill it up all the time. "I'm not making a profit."
Eskom said in a statement that it extended load shedding to stage six indefinitely due to a need to replenish the pumped storage dams in preparation for the week ahead.
Meanwhile, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express his frustration.
He claimed stage six was an act of sabotage.
South Africans and political parties also voiced out their anger, calling for Ramaphosa to step down.
The media briefing by the Minister in The Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, which was scheduled to take place on Monday, 12 February will now take place on Sunday, 11 February.
The minister will provide an update on the performance of the grid in light of the escalated levels of load shedding.
