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Load shedding will be reduced from Stage 3 to Stage 2 at 22:00 on Thursday evening, Eskom announced. Stage 2 will continue until Friday evening.

A generation unit each at the Majuba, Matimba and the Arnot power stations have returned to service since Wednesday night, while a single unit at Tutuka Power Station was shut down for repairs. Two more units are set to return to service during the next 24 hours.

This, together with the expected lower weekend demand, makes it possible for Eskom to reduce load shedding, the utility said.

Some 5 349 MW of the power system has been placed on planned maintenance, while another 14 493 MW of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned breakdowns.

Load shedding was reduced from Stage 4 to Stage 3 on Wednesday evening.

Parliament will establish an ad hoc committee to oversee the national state of disaster after flooding caused major devastation in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Eastern Cape last week.

President Cyril Ramaphosa also called for a joint sitting of Parliament to outline government's response. This will take place on Tuesday.

The National Assembly Programming Committee met on Thursday morning.

National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula opened the meeting by referring to the "tragic events that unfolded in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape". She said the "devastating floods" will have a lasting effect not only on those directly affected, but on the whole country.

She said the disaster occurred while the country was still recovering from the economic hardship brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and last year's civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

"Given the tragic circumstances that confront us, it is imperative that Parliament play its part," she said.

Mapisa-Nqakula had received a letter from Ramaphosa "calling a hybrid joint sitting".

"This is to ensure that the elected representatives of the people of our country can be directly involved in oversight of the work that is needed to provide relief," she added.

She said African National Congress chief whip Pemmy Majodina had proposed that an ad hoc committee be established to oversee the state of disaster.

At its meeting on Wednesday, the Chief Whips' Forum agreed.

There seems to be unanimous support for the establishment of such a committee.

The National Assembly will establish the committee at a sitting scheduled for Tuesday at 12:00.

The joint sitting comprising the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces will start at 14:00. Parties will be allowed to respond to Ramaphosa's address.

Ukrainian ambassador to South Africa Liubov Abravitova believes a call between President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, has sent a strong signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ramaphosa and Zelensky spoke on Wednesday night in a call, which was confirmed by Abravitova to News24.

The ambassador said she facilitated the call but could not divulge many details on its content.

Abravitova said in her view, the call sent a strong message to Putin.

She said it had been the first conversation between Ramaphosa and Zelensky in a long time. The dialogue between the two men centred on cooperation between South Africa and Ukraine.

"They discussed the resistance of Ukraine, and they discussed relations between Ukraine and South Africa, and cooperation. These are the main points. The call was the first communication between the presidents in a long time. I believe it is a very strong signal to Vladimir Putin, this call. This is my evaluation of the call," Abravitova told News24.

"Had a phone conversation with @CyrilRamaphosa. Told about our resistance to Russian aggression. Discussed the threat of a global food crisis, deepening relations with the Republic of South Africa and cooperation within international organisations," Zelensky tweeted on Wednesday night.

Talks between Ramaphosa and Zelensky come a month after Ramaphosa held a similar discussion with Putin.

Ramaphosa said the call had centred around the war in Ukraine and the country gaining an understanding of the situation.

"I outlined our position on the conflict that has unfolded, as well as our belief that the conflict should be resolved through mediation and negotiation between the parties and – if need be – with the help of agencies that can help bring a solution to the conflict," Ramaphosa said on his Twitter account in March.

Fence-sitting

The government has been heavily criticised for sitting on the fence in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In March, South Africa abstained from voting on a United Nations (UN) resolution on the conflict in Ukraine.

Ramaphosa defended this decision, News24 reported, saying the conflict between the two European countries should be solved through mediation.

In April, South Africa again abstained from voting on a UN resolution to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Six KwaZulu-Natal districts have borne the brunt of the damage to healthcare infrastructure due to floods, with the health minister dispatching a team of national and provincial officials to assess the impact on services.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla, who had visited the province on Tuesday, said healthcare services had been most affected in eThekwini, Ugu, Ilembe, uMgungundlovu, King Cetshwayo and uMkhanyakude districts.

The damaged healthcare infrastructure included 23 hospitals, 34 clinics and community health centres. Repairs were expected to cost around R187 million, which Phaahla said the department would request from National Treasury.

"Most damages manifest in the form of weakened roof coverings, failed waterproofing membranes causing water ingress, embankments and retaining wall failures," said Phaahla.

He added that extensive repairs were needed to replace the entire roof coverings and embankment restabilisation at Newtown Community Health Centre, Wentworth Regional Hospital, GJ Crookes Hospital, and Justice Gizenga Mpanza Regional Hospital. Services at Newtown Health Centre had come to a halt, he said.

Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in Umlazi had been left without water supply as a result of the floods. Work was under way to fill the reservoir through water tanks. The water supply was expected to be restored by midday on Thursday.

Experts - who include the engineers, architects, quantity surveyors and construction managers - have classified the damage to health infrastructure as moderate compared to the damages experienced in October 2017 in eThekwini.

Of the 455 bodies recovered after the flooding, 377 had undergone post-mortems by Wednesday morning, said Phaahla. The remaining 50 post-mortems were expected to be finalised on Thursday.

Phaahla called on families "to collect the remains for burial".

Load-shedding will be reduced from Stage 4 to Stage 3 at 22:00, and remain in force until Friday, Eskom announced on Wednesday.

Six generation units have been returned online over the past 24 hours, with three more units set to return on Thursday.

A generation unit each at the Arnot and Kendal power stations returned to service, adding to the two Lethabo units, and one each at Camden and Matla power stations, that returned to service on Tuesday night.

A unit each at the Majuba, Matimba and Arnot power stations are set to return to service by on Thursday.

"Altogether, this will boost generation capacity and ease the constraints ahead of the weekend, in which we also expect lower demand," Eskom said in a statement.

Some 5 787 MW of Eskom capacity is on planned maintenance, while another 14 259 MW of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned breakdowns.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala was cornered in the provincial legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday as opposition political parties raised doubt about the government's ability to spend flood relief funds without corruption.

Zikalala faced criticism and concern about how the provincial government handled the flooding disaster.

He insisted that measures would be implemented to ensure that resources and funds donated after the flood disaster would not be abused.

He said proper measures would be followed regarding procurement.

Zikalala said the Office of the Auditor-General, the Public Protector and the South African Human Rights Commission were willing to help ensure that funds were used for their intended purpose.

"We agree there must be no tolerance [for] the abuse of public funds. We will put in place several measures to protect funds. We will ensure procurement is cost-effective and fair," Zikalala said.

Despite these assurances from Zikalala, opposition political parties warned strongly about the African National Congress's (ANC's) behaviour regarding public funds.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) called for the establishment of a multi-party committee to oversee the spending of relief funding.

EFF MPL Vusimuzi Khoza said the ANC could not be trusted with handling relief funds donated to the province.

The EFF also blamed the ANC for not acting quickly on land expropriation, leading to people building homes on unsustainable land.

"The ANC government is responsible for this disaster because the ANC has refused to take land from thieves. It has failed our people and forced them to build houses on sloping ground. It is because the ANC has failed our people.

"If these ANC cadres could steal money meant for funerals, what would stop them from stealing money meant for floods? Wherever there is the ANC, there is looting."

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), through its leader Velenkosini Hlabisa, echoed those sentiments, saying a close watch should be kept on spending to ensure that public funds were used to benefit the public.

"As the IFP, we will be vigilant in our oversight role to ensure funding is used prudently," he said.

Democratic Alliance MPL Francois Rodgers said despite calls for unity, there were several weaknesses in the government's response.

Rodgers said there seemed to be no coordination in responding to the floods.

Zikalala defended the government's response, saying the provincial government had warned of unusual weather ahead of the flood disaster.

He also defended himself against allegations that a water tanker had been diverted to his home.

Zikalala has since apologised for the incident at his home in La Mercy in Durban.

He insisted that he had not been home when the water tanker was delivered.

Tashya Giyapersad, vice-chair of the La Mercy Residents' Association, said the organisation had noted the premier's apology. "We intend having a meeting with him," she said without stating when the meeting was set to take place. Giyapersad said they intended to communicate the outcomes of their meeting with Zikalala "in the next day or two".

In total, 448 people have died in the floods that engulfed KwaZulu-Natal last week. Hundreds of people have lost their homes.

President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a National State of Disaster.

South Africa's major port of Durban, where operations were disrupted by severe flooding last week, is now functional and a backlog of thousands of containers will be cleared within five to six days, the public enterprises minister said on Tuesday.

The floods caused extensive damage to roads leading to Durban port, one of the busiest shipping terminals in Africa and a key hub for exports like metals and agricultural commodities and imports like fuel.

Scientists believe the southeastern coast of Africa is becoming more vulnerable to violent storms and floods as human emissions of heat-trapping gases cause the Indian Ocean to warm. They expect the trend to worsen dramatically in coming decades.

Minister Pravin Gordhan told an online briefing on Tuesday that fridges, logs and debris ended up in the harbour during the floods but that after 72 hours of dredging a lot of the debris had been cleared.

He said that trucks could now access the port terminals, which were operating at between 60% and 100% capacity, and that there was no risk of fuel shortages as state logistics company Transnet's pipeline was operational.

Talking about chrome, ferrochrome and iron ore specifically, Gordhan said exports were happening at a "reasonable" level, given the damage that had occurred, and that exports should improve in the coming days.

Trade and industry minister Ebrahim Patel said problems with the movement of goods were shifting from the Durban port, where there had been considerable progress, to the logistics of moving cargo to the Gauteng province, the country's economic hub where Johannesburg is located.

President Cyril Ramaphosa invoked the importance of the Durban port to the country's economy as a whole in an address to the nation on Monday, when he announced that his cabinet had declared a national state of disaster to respond to the crisis.

The floods, among the worst to have affected KwaZulu-Natal province in its recorded history, have killed more than 440, left thousands homeless and damaged more than R10-billion of infrastructure.

Dozens of people are still missing and search and rescue missions continue, although the chances of finding people more than a week after the rains started to lash the east-coast province are shrinking.

There can be as many as 101 days of load-shedding this winter, in the "extreme case", according to an Eskom official.

Eskom on Tuesday provided an update on the state of the power system, this after load-shedding escalated to Stage 4 in the morning due to failing generating units.

In its assessments for the winter period, Eskom expects between 37 and 101 days of load-shedding, said group head of transmission, Segomoco Scheppers. The 101 days is "far in the extreme" scenario, he added.

Eskom has to contain unplanned breakdowns below 12 500 MW to avoid load-shedding entirely.

Planned maintenance has taken out over 5 000 MW of capacity. However, unplanned losses are in excess of 15 600 MW. Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter said this is "unacceptably high" and has led to the implementation of Stage 4 load-shedding to manage demand and avoid a total blackout.

The heavy rains over the Easter weekend were not in Eskom's favour. It contributed to wet coal which is difficult to handle. It tends to stick and causes blockages at units leading to load losses, he explained.

Group head of generation Philip Dukashe echoed concerns that persistent rain affects the ability to manage coal. "We have plans to curb rain to manage the risks imposed by the rain, particularly on coal stockyards . but if the rain is persistent for more than five days and even after that, it is not dry, and you continue to have some rain, it poses a major issue."

Units impacted by rain had to be supported with fuel oil. Often power stations lose combustion due to the wet coal, and there are also problems with the flow of coal in the system.

Dukashe also said that, over the weekend, demand was higher than forecasted. On Friday, demand was 700 MW higher than forecasted, and this increased to 1 687 MW on Saturday and 1 200 MW more on Sunday. These significant changes impacted Eskom's planning, he explained.

Eskom had hoped to take some units out for planned maintenance, but had to run them to meet demand. "So the units queuing up for maintenance to be done were not able to be taken off," he said." Eventually, some of those units took themselves off due to various reasons, such as tube leaks.

Eskom has units in excess of 11 000 MW that are at risk of giving in or failing at any stage, Dukashe said. This is a concern for Eskom as it has not been able to reduce the risk.

Dukashe assured Eskom plans to bring more generation capacity online this week.

"We are hoping to be in a better position by Thursday evening, based on the units that will be coming back over this week," he said. By Thursday evening or Friday, Eskom plans to reassess the situation and possibly lift load-shedding.

No Stage 6 foreseen

Eskom does not foresee load-shedding escalating to Stage 6 this week, Dukashe said. "In terms of where we are, we do not see that happening this week. We expect some units to come back tomorrow and some big units coming online on Thursday."

As to whether the damage caused to infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal due to flooding will impact Eskom's access to fuels, Dukashe said that the power utility is currently not getting enough fuel oil supply, but contingency plans are in place. The ability to replenish diesel is also slower than the norm, but he assured there were contingency plans for diesel supplies.

Diesel supplies at Ankerlig power station are around 67%, said De Ruyter. "This is not ideal. We would like the number to be north of 80%," he said. Eskom expects delivery from 129 diesel trucks during the day to replenish reserves.

Gourikwa power plant does not have the same logistical constraints as Ankerlig. Its diesel levels are at around 82%. "We are running Gourikwa to supplement the generation shortfall, but we are not running Ankerlig to preserve our capacity there," said De Ruyter.

The Drakensburg Pumped Storage Scheme has not recovered its reserves as well as expected. However, Ingula Pumped Storage is in a better position in terms of the replenishment of its reserv...

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says the devastating flooding that occurred in KwaZulu-Natal is a sign of climate change, adding that flooding in the province has worsened over the last five years.

"These floods are the worst we have seen in living memory. Over 24 hours, we had more than 400 mm of rain. In Durban, for instance, in February - which is the wettest month - we normally get about 102 mm of rain - in the whole month. April is not even the wettest month.

"This also tells us that climate change is here with us. The scientists have been telling us that the eastern side of the country is going to be wetter and will have frequent floods; the western parts of the country will be drier and have frequent droughts. We thought it was something in the distant future, but if we look at what has happened in the last five years .clearly, climate change is with us and we are beginning to feel the effects of that."

She was briefing the media after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government had brought back the national state of disaster in response to the floods.

Last week's floods left more than 400 people dead and at least 63 missing. Thousands more were left homeless after about 4 000 houses were destroyed.

Dlamini-Zuma said that as mop-up operations continue, rebuilding must be done in a better way.

"As we build back, we should be building back better. No one should be building on the riverbanks and also in flood plains; also, in some of the areas which are geographically right for residential areas."

Dlamini-Zuma added that the government was doing all it could to find missing people.

The minister said the state of disaster had been gazetted and would be implemented for three months. An assessment will be done after three months to decide whether to extend it.

"It can be terminated early if there is a need."

She added that the floods did not only affect KwaZulu-Natal, but parts of the Eastern Cape too.

"The impact of these floods are well beyond the province. So it became very important that the national government come on board. The declaration, in a way gives, hope and is a vessel for coordination and rallying the entire government and international support."

She added that the state of disaster strengthened the national government's intervention.

"It does not mean that now provincial government can relax. They must still do their work. It signals that the government as a whole intends to deal with this severe weather in a holistic manner, in an integrated approach."

All spheres of government will work together to assist those affected by floods she said.

The head of South Africa's National Disaster Management Centre, Mmaphaka Tau, said they set up task teams to look into health issues, humanitarian relief, integrated flood risks and early warnings, food and nutrition, communication and community mobilisation, infrastructure interventions, security search and rescue, as well as funding, monitoring and evaluation.

"These teams are being activated as we speak. They will be replicated at provincial and municipal levels."

"Distressing calls" from flood-stricken KwaZulu-Natal has prompted the Gift of the Givers Foundation to step in, and it has appealed to the South African public to open their hearts and purses.

Founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said the organisation was identifying areas that suffered severe damage and assessing the enormity of the need.

The organisation has already started distributing fresh water to residents, and it set up a bulk food relief site and distributed bedding and other essential items.

"Distribution is delayed because of the inaccessibility of roads. It takes time and you can't go in with big trucks," Sooliman added.

To assist those in need, the organisation launched a crowdfunding campaign on BackaBuddy.

The funds raised will be used to provide hot meals, blankets, bottled water, warm clothes, sanitary pads and nappies for those in low-lying areas who have lost their possessions.

"People want hope. They've been emotionally and psychologically traumatised. They've lost possessions and family members," Sooliman said.

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Sipho Hlomuka also asked for donations of non-perishable food, bottled water, clothes and blankets to be sent to provincial disaster management teams.

"During this difficult period that our province is faced with, it's crucial that we show ubuntu towards those who have been affected," Hlomuka said.

Donations can be dropped off at 66 Shortts Retreat Road in Pietermaritzburg.

A provincial state of disaster has been declared.