S.Africa to start forced nationwide power cuts-Eskom

JOHANNESBURG, March 28 (Reuters) - South African power utility Eskom [ESCJ.UL] will start nationwide scheduled power blackouts from March 31 to reduce electricity demand, it said on Friday.

Eskom, which has been struggling to cope with the country's power crisis, said it will implement rolling blackouts -- known as load shedding in South Africa -- to reduce electricity demand to manageable levels for at least three months.

"Predictable and scheduled load shedding that will typically average two to two-and-a half hours of interruption will occur every second day, excluding Sundays," Eskom said in a statement. (Reporting by Marius Bosch)