Concern over impact of load shedding on matric exams

This year’s exams started on Wednesday with the writing of Computer Applications and Information Technology.

This coincided with the announcement by Eskom that has begun implementing stage 2 load shedding due to a lack of capacity.

The power utility has warned that the rolling blackouts could last a week.

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The department's spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga says the extent of the impact has not been established as provinces still need to provide feedback.

Contingency plans have however been put in place to mitigate the impact of the power cuts.

"We will provide an update at a later stage. We are monitoring the situation closely ourselves,” says Mhlanga.

"We will look into the possibility of engaging Eskom with a view to alerting them to the negative effect the power cuts may have on national exams.

"We, however, have a backup exam which can be scheduled if there are candidates who are not able to write this exam."