South Africa’s troubled power utility, Eskom, confirmed on Monday that it had executed load shedding (power cuts) at 11am and will continue with the rolling blackouts until 10pm tonight. Eskom attributed this load shedding to demand for power which has surpassed supply.

This actually shows that the constant delivery of uninterrupted power to South Africa is indeed in serious trouble as its CEO, Tshediso Matona, said earlier this month, blaming lack of service to the company’s nationwide aging infrastructure.

This could mean that the country’s economy will continue to underperform as companies will not ramp up enough production due to lack of enough power. “The power system is severely constrained due to unforeseen technical problems at power stations,” TechCentral quoted the company as having said on Twitter.

Eskom has called on customers to urgently turn-off geysers, air conditioners, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances. Shopping centres and office blocks have also asked to turn-off non-essential lights and put photocopy machines and computers on standby after hours. “Eskom will provide regular updates on the status of the power system through all media platforms,” Eskom added.

Two power stations, Medupi and Kusile, are under construction and could alleviate the problem once they are completed in the next few years.