No power cuts were to be implemented on Wednesday but the risk of cuts in the evening remained high, Eskom said.

"Currently the power system is constrained. Our projection is that it will be more constrained later this afternoon and as a result the risk of load shedding is high for today [Wednesday] and the rest of the week," the utility's spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said.

"Currently we are not load shedding but we are beginning to see a lot of demand on the power system."

He urged citizens to switch off all non-essential appliances.

Eskom had found that some municipalities were leaving street lights on during the day. Some people were also leaving their house lights on.

"Street lights need to be switched off during the day," said Phasiwe.

Stage one power cuts were implemented from 18:00 to 22:00 on Tuesday.

During stage one blackouts 1 000 MW of the national load is cut, 2 000 MW during stage two, and 4 000 MW in stage three.