Power cuts hit South Africa’s economy, Nation faces major blackouts after 2014

South Africa's troubled power utility has been implementing a series of power cuts nationwide, intensifying concern about attempts to spur growth in one of Africa's biggest economies.

State-owned Eskom on December 4 announced another day of scheduled electricity cuts in what it said was "a measure of last resort to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout."

Eskom attributes the rotational cuts, known as "load-shedding," to breakdowns at power generation plants and says teams are working to restore service.

The debt-laden utility, which provides most of South Africa's electricity, is at the centre of efforts by South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa to rid state-owned enterprises of corruption and mismanagement after the scandal-tainted tenure of predecessor Jacob Zuma.

South Africans also experienced major blackouts in 2008 and 2014.

With inputs from agency.