Electricity provider Eskom has warned that the country faces a high risk of load shedding on Thursday evening.

In a statement the parastatal said that the power system was “severly constrained.” It has asked large industrial customers to reduce demand by 10%.

Eskom warned that there would be a high possiblity of load shedding between 5pm and 9pm on Thursday evening.

The parastatal blamed the cold weather and its maintenance schedule for the power constraints.

Eskom said that it did not expect load shedding on Friday.