All-day stage 4 load shedding this weekend – check your schedule
Power utility Eskom says that load shedding will continue at stage 4 until further notice.
This follows breakdowns of a generating unit each at Koeberg, Medupi, Kriel, Arnot and Lethabo power stations. A further update will be issued if necessary, it said.
Around 22h00 on Friday evening, the turbine on Unit 2 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station tripped while replacing a failed electronic turbine protection module. The reactor responded to the turbine trip by reducing power and it remained critical, as designed, with no nuclear safety consequences, Eskom said.
“This enabled the unit to be returned to service quickly and the unit was resynchronized to the grid just before 07h00 this morning. Over the course of the day the unit will increase power back up to full load. The unit had been online for an uninterrupted 145 days when this occurred.”
South Africans have experienced load shedding everyday of 2023 so far, and rolling blackouts have been implemented on a near permanent basis since Septemer 2022.
Ratings agencies this week warned that the ongoing power crisis is putting South Africa’s credit rating at risk of a downgrade, especially as it is having a severe economic impact.
The Soith African Reserve Bank cut its GDP growth forecast for the country to a paltry 0.3%, anticipating over 200 days of load shedding in 2023. Other economists and analysts followed suit, revising forecasts downward.
Businesses, meanwhile, are taking a beating, having to fork over millions of rands in mitigation processes – either investing in costly solar solutions or generator backups, which then need diesel to run.
Major retail groups like Pick n Pay, Shoprite and Dis-Chem have already reported spending millions of rands each month keeping the lights on. Smaller businesses, which cannot afford the mitigation solutions, have been forced to close down.
The national government has acknowledged the crisis and is attempting to resolve it – however, there are no quick fixes.
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the crisis a state of disaster, hoping to break through barriers and fast-track resolutions to address the crisis. He is also appointing a minister of electricity within the presidency to focus solely on ending load shedding.
However, both these measures are facing widespread backlash. Several groups are taking the declaration of a state of disaster to court, fearing that it would be used by the government to loot state coffers and push through damaging solutions – like a 20-year deal to have environmentally damaging and over-priced power ships docked in South African ports.
The minister of electricity, meanwhile, has been received as a bad joke, with analysts scoffing at the thought of adding yet another minister to the mix of people Eskom has to report to. The two ministers already in charge have not done anything to resolve the crisis, and a third risks adding further stumbling blocks.
Response to Ramaphosa’s plans from investors and ratings agencies show the international community has little faith in them.
Investors have been selling off South African bonds and equities, and the rand has weakened significantly. The ratings agencies, meanwhile, said that the South African government’s track record of implementing, executing and following through on its lofty promises is weak, and so Ramaphosa’s mitigation plans do not inspire much hope.
Outgoing Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said that even if all goes well, load shedding will still be around until the end of the year. More details on government’s attempts to assist households and businesses in coping are expected during the Budget speech next week.
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: Eskom’s ‘quick fix’ to cut load shedding by 2 stages comes with a big catch
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