A major power failure left Cape Town, South Africa, in the dark this weekend. Eskom, the state-owned electric utility, blamed the blackouts on technical problems.

The "technical problems" at Eskom caused rolling blackouts across Western Cape, the fourth to hit in many months, according to a Business Day article.

The sole functioning power unit at nuclear power station Koeberg was shut down Sunday morning, and extensive pollution caused by the recent severe bush fires in the Western Cape affected the transmission line insulators, causing the large-scale power failure.

Rail transport was also affected by the outages. Power was disrupted in parts of Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria, said Eskom spokesman Fani Zulu.

The Business Day article said that the power outages could be a sign of bigger problems to come as the increased demand for electricity outgrows secure supply. “The demand for electricity is increasing at an average of 1000 MW a year. Eskom and independent power producers, which have already committed R93bn to building new power stations over the next five years, received an additional R100bn boost from the treasury last week to find new energy sources,” the article stated.

Power cuts continue this week as Eskom is working to bring the power station back online. The failure of Koeberg's Unit 2 has resulted in a shortfall of 800 MW of supply, according to a story on allAfrica.com. Eskom has been "load-shedding" to ensure available power is rotated among the province's users, and several statements have been released claiming that areas will be affected for only about two hours a day. However, allAfrica.com listed several areas where electricity has been off for more than two hours.

Eskom chief executive Thulani Gcabashe said that power outages would be over by today, but according to a statement by Eskom yesterday, "compliance with technical regulations" would delay the restoration of full power until the end of this week. Eskom spokesman Tony Stott said it was hoped that the power would be fully restored by Friday or Saturday but he "could not commit to an actual date,” allAfrica.com stated.