South Africa has signed an agreement to import electricity from its northern neighbour Mozambique amid a crippling energy crisis as it heads into winter.
Ministers from the two countries signed the power purchasing agreement on Monday but details of the cost were undisclosed.
The deal will see an immediate 100 megawatts of electricity from Mozambique added into South Africa's grid from as early as next week, said Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.
It will be increased to 600 megawatts in the next six months, he told journalists.
South Africa is Africa's largest industrialised economy but is experiencing its worst power shortfall estimated at over 4000 megawatts. The crisis is blamed on its ageing coal plants, with electricity sometimes unavailable for over 10 hours a day.
Generation capacity
Ramokgopa hosted his Mozambican counterpart, Carlos Zacarias, for the cross-border power purchasing agreement in the capital Pretoria.
"We are searching for each and every megawatt available, and of course the Mozambicans have come to the party, they are aiding us to address that," the South African minister said.
He added: "We are working on new generation capacity in the country and we are making significant strides."
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last month warned of a "difficult winter ahead". It is usually a peak-time electricity use period as households switch on heating devices.
The president played down the possibility of a collapse of the power grid and signaled at further rationing of the available electricity.
