Even as he sought to reassure South Africans that Eskom could still provide electricity and the country would avoid a total blackout, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan raised the possibility of blackouts reaching an unprecedented stage 8, which might lead to outages of up to 13 hours.

Speaking in parliament, Gordhan sought to fend off suggestions by the DA that the utility be declared a “state of disaster”, which would allow provinces and municipalities to seek alternative sources of power...