South Africa is in the midst of a major power crisis, largely due to breakdowns in Eskom's ageing fleet of coal-fired power stations. But Eskom had been implementing lower levels of scheduled power cuts in recent weeks, which helped to boost investor confidence and lift the rand currency.
The utility also typically reduces power cuts over weekends.
"Unfortunately, due to the failure of additional generation units since Sunday, the reserves have been depleted and can no longer buffer the lingering effects of the cold weather," Eskom said in a statement.
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Alexander Winning)
