State power utility Eskom said on Friday it would again effect rotational powercuts to reduce demand and avoid a collapse of the grid, but that this would be on a lower scale than in recent days.

"Eskom will be implementing Stage 1 rotational load shedding from 09:00 and this is likely to continue until 22:00," it said. 

"We are load shedding below Stage 2 as we have seen a small improvement in generation performance and because of lower electricity demand on Fridays," company added.

Stage 1 calls for a reduction of 1 000 MW nationally at a given period, compared to 2 000 MW for stage 1.