WATCH | Energy expert believes SA hit Stage 8 blackouts last week

JOHANNESBURG - Experts aren't backing down on claims that South Africa reached Stage 8 blackouts last weekend.

This despite Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa insisting that Eskom only reached Stage 6.

Government ordered to end outages at public facilities

However, data shows the power utility had actually cut over 7,000 megawatts of power from the grid.

Energy expert Matthew Cruise says by Eskom’s own definition, this was equal to 8 Stages of blackouts.

Cruise says he was at Eskom for 11 years and that a continuous decline in energy output at power stations, is the key factor driving the power cuts.

Watch the full interview in the gallery below.