Eskom warned on Tuesday afternoon that load-shedding may be implemented at short notice during the evenings this week, should there be any significant breakdowns.

Eskom said there's a continued shortage of generation capacity, and that the power system will be very constrained on Tuesday evening and the next few days.

Should there be any further significant breakdowns, load-shedding may be required at short notice, most likely during the evening peak of between 17:00 and 22:00.

Some 3 307MW in electricity capacity is out due to planned maintenance, while another 15 844MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.

"Eskom cautions the public that as the shortage of generation capacity persists, the system will continue to be constrained with an elevated risk of load-shedding over the coming weeks."

The utility asked consumers to use electricity sparingly especially between 05:00 and 09:00 in the mornings and 16:00 and 22:00 in the evenings.

South Africa was last hit by load-shedding two weeks ago.