South Africa: Load Shedding Ramps up to Stage 5, Stage 6 ‘Until Further Notice’ – South Africa News Briefs – January 31, 2023

Cape Town — Eskom Set to Initiate Stage 5, Stage 6 Load Shedding

Eskom has announced that it will be implementing Stage 5 load shedding from 12pm today until 9pm tonight, followed by Stage 6 until 5am tomorrow "until further notice". The embattled power utility cited several generator breakdowns as the cause of the power cuts. The announcement comes as President Cyril Ramaphosa considers announcing a State of Disaster over the country's continued energy crisis.

At-Risk South Africans Now Eligible for 5th Covid-19 Booster Shots

The National Department of Health has announced that those aged 50 are now eligible to receive a fight Covid-19 booster shot, Eyewitness News reports. Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said that people between 18 and 49 years are also eligible to receive another vaccine dose, making up a total of four shots of either the Johnson & Johnson or Pfizer vaccines. The waiting period between South Africans' last dose and this latest one should be at least 180 days or six months, Mohale added.

City of Johannesburg Faces Mounting Water Crisis as Load Shedding Impacts Pump Station

As water levels for Johannesburg's reservoirs and towers remain low, the City appealed to residents to use water sparingly, Times Live reports. Multiple areas had no access to water the weekend of January 28 and 29, 2023 – with more residents becoming affected on January 30 and 31. A power failure at the Eikenhof pump station compounded problems, with Rand Water saying that its system is "extremely sensitive to any power outage". A generator installation project has been introduced to lessen the impact of load shedding on the system.

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