Parts of Soweto experienced a power outage on Tuesday morning, with Eskom confirming that teams were dispatched to fix cable faults affecting several areas.
Soweto power outage: Here are the latest updates
According to the power utility, technicians were sent to Emdeni, Naledi, and parts of Zola to repair the fault and restore electricity.
“Technicians are on site continuing with cable repairs and restoring supply… Significant progress has been made… we anticipate that all work will be concluded and supply restored at 18:00,” Eskom said in a statement released earlier on Tuesday.
The power utility apologised to affected customers for the inconvenience.
Eskom’s power grid is unstable, expert warns
These outages, although localised, come at a time when the country’s electricity system is under severe pressure.
Professor Anton Eberhard, an energy policy specialist, has warned that the national grid is dangerously close to falling back into loadshedding. He pointed to a large number of unplanned breakdowns, meaning parts of Eskom’s power plants are suddenly failing.
The most recent power alert, issued by Eskom on Friday, 27 June 2025, claimed that 2,450 megawatts (MW) of power would be restored to the system by Monday, 30 June.
However, unplanned outages have exceeded 15,000MW. For context, Eskom has previously stated that loadshedding becomes likely when breakdowns rise above 13,000MW.
“South Africa’s electricity system is again under strain, with very little reserve margin,” said Eberhard in a public statement.
He also expressed concern about delays in restoring Medupi Unit 4, which accounts for 800MW of missing generation capacity.
Additionally, Eskom’s continued reliance on diesel-powered emergency generators — known as open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) — has cost the utility R4.76 billion so far this year.
While this is still within the utility’s budget, it indicates a dependence on emergency measures.
Eberhard has urged Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to announce new solar, wind, and battery projects more regularly. He also called on Eskom CEO Dan Marokane to allow the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) to operate independently to speed up investment in the energy sector.
Although Eskom highlights that renewable energy sources like solar and wind are helping the system, the Energy Availability Factor (EAF) — which measures how much of Eskom’s equipment is working — is only 60.61% this month. Eberhard argues this is too low to meet the higher demand expected in winter.
The next Eskom system update is expected on Friday, 4 July 2025. In the meantime, the utility is urging households and businesses to use electricity wisely.