text: Post-1994 election period: 1994-2007 Following democratic elections in 1994 and the start of the Mandela government the company changed focus to electrification of previously neglected residential homes and to provide low cost electricity for economic growth.  Following the passing of the 1998 Eskom Amendment Act government's powers to influence company policy and investment decisions were greatly expanded. Due to the South African government's attempted privatisation of Eskom in the late 1990s during the administration of President Thabo Mbeki, Eskom requests for budget to build new stations were denied. After leaving the presidency, Mbeki would later state in December 2007 that this was an error, resulting in adverse affects for the South African economy.
  Load shedding and second expansion: 2007-present
  In February 2006, Eskom announced "load shedding" in the Western Cape province, due to issues experienced by Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant. This continued until June 2006.  In January 2008, Eskom introduced load shedding nationally controversially introduced "load shedding"rolling blackouts based on a rotating schedule, in periods where short supply threatened the integrity of the grid. Demand-side management has focused on encouraging consumers to conserve power during peak periods in order to reduce the incidence of load shedding. Following the national power shortage in 2007, Eskom embarked on an aggressive electricity production expansion programme during the administration of President Jacob Zuma.  The Zuma administration decided to focus expansion efforts on building additional large scale six-pack coal-fired power plants.