Stage 4 load shedding to stick all week – here’s the latest schedule
Power utility Eskom says the current stage 3 and stage 4 rotation will be in effect until further notice.
The group had initially intended on downgrading the rotation to stage 2 and stage 3 by Wednesday, however, this is no longer happening.
Stage 3 load shedding will kick in between 05h00 and 16h00 daily, with stage 4 taking place overnight between 16h00 and 05h00.
The updated schedule through to Friday is as follows:
Tuesday, 7 February
- Stage 4: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 3: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00
Wednesday, 8 February
- Stage 4: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 3: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00
Thursday, 9 February
- Stage 4: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 3: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00
Eskom will announce any changes as soon as they happen.
South Africa hit a bleak milestone of 100 consecutive days of load shedding on Tuesday, with rolling blackouts hitting every single day since 31 October 2022.
However, the period of load shedding is worse than that, with the country only escaping blackouts for two days in October, meaning the country has been in a near-permanent state of load shedding since 6 September 2022.
The South African Reserve Bank anticipates over 200 days of load shedding in 2023, costing the economy up to R1 billion a day.
Eskom and the national government are working on parallel plans to end the power disruptions, but none of them are silver bullets that will end the rolling blackouts in the near term. At best – if all plans go well and everything goes right – some relief will be felt within 12 to 18 months.
Outgoing Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said that progress will be made by the end of March 2023.
In preparation for the winter months, Eskom said it will be bringing more units online from planned maintenance, but even this comes with the major caveat that grid instability and high failure rates means these plans can change at short notice.
Analysts and energy experts predict that load shedding will only get more severe as the country heads into winter, with some predicting stage 7, stage 8 or even beyond.
Schedules
For people living in the major metros, load shedding schedules are available here:
- City of Johannesburg
- City of Ekurhuleni
- City of Tshwane
- City of Cape Town (PDF)
- Nelson Mandela Bay
- eThekwini
- Manguang
- Buffalo City
For access to other load shedding schedules, Eskom has made them available on loadshedding.eskom.co.za.
Smartphone users can also download the app EskomSePush to receive push notifications when load shedding is implemented, as well as the times the area you are in will be off.
Read: Warning over load shedding revolt as South Africa hits 100 consecutive days of blackouts
Loading ...