Eskom warned late on Tuesday that its generation system is “severely constrained” as the result of unplanned breakdowns at four units.

“We have unexpectedly lost four large units to unplanned breakdowns, while the return to service of another two generation units has been delayed,” the state-owned utility said in a statement.

We have unexpectedly lost four large units to unplanned breakdowns…

Units at the Kendal, Majuba and Lethabo power stations have been affected, while a unit at Duvha and a unit at Tutuka have not returned to service as expected.

“A further Kendal unit was taken offline due to technical difficulties and to address emmissions,” Eskom said.

“While we expect some units to return to service soon, this situation may persist until the weekend.”