Last week's power cuts will not harm South Africa's economic growth nearly as much as some people have predicted, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Monday.

"The responses tend to be overcooked," he said in Pretoria, according to website News24.

"The numbers that they generate are complete and utter garbage... it will not affect growth."

Manuel said Eskom's capacity was sufficient for the present and that it was normal for power plants to be shut down for routine maintenance, as occurred last week when about 4600 megaWatts of capacity were taken off line.

"Eskom chose what should be the lightest (demand) period," he said, adding that it was best to carry out such shutdowns ahead of the winter peaks.

The cuts, which Eskom attributed to station maintenance and the shutdown of a unit at Koeberg nuclear power station, caused power failures from Cape Town to Johannesburg.

Sapa

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