Eskom cut power to parts of four provinces early on Tuesday in a bid to ease the burden  on overloaded networks.

In Mpumalanga, the power utility planned to implement “load reduction” in the Enhlanzeni district from 5am to 9am.

“Eskom is battling to keep up with the increased equipment failure caused by overloading that is costing millions to repair,” the company said.

It warned that the overloaded system could cause substation and transformer explosions and posed a danger to people and property in affected areas.

In the Free State, the Lejweleputswa and Thabo Mofutsanyana districts were affected between 6am and 9am.

In Gauteng, parts of Soweto, the Vaal and West Rand areas were affected between 5am and 9am.

In KwaZulu-Natal, thousands of households were expected to be affected in the Mfolozi, Mtubatuba, New Castle, Ray Nkonyeni, Mandeni and Msinga areas.

In Limpopo, the Lenyenye and Mamitwa areas in the Mopani district were affected.

Customers affected by load reduction were advised to not log faults during these power cuts.

“During the load reduction implementation, customers are urged to switch off all their electrical appliances to avoid possible damage due to power surges when supply returns,” said Eskom.

“Failure to do so may lead to transformer trips or failures and damage to household appliances when supply is restored,” the power utility added.

TimesLIVE