Watch the FIFA World Cup at a local pub‚ family or a friend’s house to save power.

This was one of the power saving tips that Eskom recommended to customers on Sunday in a media statement.

“Watch the World Cup at a pub or at a family or friend who is not on the day’s load-shedding schedule‚” Eskom said.

“Think about your safety and communication by keeping your cell phone/laptop/tablet always fully charged when power is available and keep temporary lighting readily available.”

The power utility said the risk of load shedding would remain high on Sunday and this coming week as the system remained “constrained” and due to recent industrial action.

Eskom said the system had been boosted on Sunday morning after several units had come back online.

“We assure customers that all available emergency energy resources are used‚ before load shedding is implemented.”

Customers were advised to use electricity sparingly.

“Please switch off geysers during the day especially during peak periods (7-10am and 6-9pm) as well as all non-essential lighting and electricity appliances to assist in reducing demand. Remember to treat all electrical points as live during a power outage.”

Load shedding schedules ca n be checked on Eskom’s website and on the websites of local municipalities. One can also call Eskom’s contact centre at 0860 037 566.

Wage negotiations between Eskom and labour unions National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa)‚ National Union of Mineworkers (Num) and Solidarity deadlocked after unions demanded wage hikes of between 9% and 15%‚ with Eskom offering no increase.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Friday night‚ however‚ that a wage freeze was no longer an option.

Gordhan’s ministry said in a statement that he had called a meeting with the Eskom board‚ the management of the parastatal and of three labour unions‚ to deal with the problem.

He said it had been decided that negotiations over salary increases would resume “with immediate effect”.

“It was agreed that the 0% offer from Eskom is off the table‚” the statement read.

“The parties agreed that the current disruptions at Eskom that resulted in load-shedding since Thursday are not beneficial to either party nor to the country and the economy.”