South Africans have not experienced such power cuts since December 2019. Rationing has reached stage 6 out of 8: more than six hours a day without power since Tuesday.

Rationing has been implemented by the national utility Eskom, which attributes the electricity shortage to a strike launched last week by some employees, after negotiations on wages failed. The unions were demanding a 15% pay increase.

Eskom describes the action as "illegal", because this strike was banned by a court. And the utility explains that as a result, routine maintenance has been postponed. A delay that will take "days or even weeks to resolve", Eskom continues in its statement.

The situation is therefore far from returning to normal. These blackouts "cause great damage to South Africa's reputation", believes Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, who denounces the "intimidation suffered" at most power plants by "90% of teams prevented from reporting to their posts".

Negotiations between Eskom management and unions are set to resume Friday, July 1.

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