In the coming days we will be able to announce a comprehensive set of actions to achieve much faster progress in tackling load shedding.

Dear Fellow South African,

Over the past two weeks, severe load shedding has disrupted our economy and caused extreme hardship for all South Africans.

Stage 6 load shedding was triggered by the loss of more than 18,000 megawatts of generation capacity due to unit breakdowns and an unprotected strike by Eskom workers.

After more than a decade of electricity shortages, South Africans are right to feel frustrated and angry. At times like this, it can feel like there is no end in sight.

Yet, while load shedding appears to worsen, the reality is that we have already taken several important actions to address the shortfall in electricity supply.

Our immediate priority is to stabilise the electricity system. As the system recovers and generation capacity is restored, Eskom will be able to reduce load shedding to lower stages.

The agreement reached between Eskom and labour unions will enable critical repairs and return additional units to operation. The transmission line from Cahora Bassa in Mozambique has been restored, adding 600MW to the grid, and Medupi Unit 6 returned...