After 141 days of blackouts, Eskom gives South Africa its first full day of no load shedding

 ·21 Mar 2023

Power utility Eskom says that load shedding will remain suspended until Wednesday, delivering the first full day of no load shedding since 30 October 2022.

The group said that due to the slight improvement in available generation capacity and the lower-than-anticipated demand, load shedding will remain suspended until 05h00 on Wednesday (22 March).

However, load shedding will return at stage 2 after that, with stage 3 being implemented for the evening peak.

The pattern of stage 2 load shedding between 05h00 and 16h00 and stage 3 from 16h00 to 05h00 will repeat until further notice, it said.

The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, 21 March

  • Suspended: 00h00 to 00h00

Wednesday, 22 March

  • Suspended: 00h00 to 05h00
  • Stage 2: 05h00 to 16h00
  • Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00

Thursday, 23 March

  • Stage 3: 00h00 to 05h00
  • Stage 2: 05h00 to 16h00
  • Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00

South Africa has been in a near-permanent state of load shedding since September 2022. The group managed to suspend load shedding for only two days since then – one day at the start of October, and one at the end of October.

Since the last day of no load shedding, the country has experienced 141 consecutive days of blackouts, including every day in 2023 until now.

21 March marks the first full-day suspension of the year.

While Eskom has announced its intent to keep load shedding suspended, South Africans are reminded that the grid is volatile and unpredictable, and the situation can change at short notice. Eskom warned on Monday evening that the grid was under pressure during the evening peak.

This did not ultimately lead to load shedding being implemented, however, the warning still goes out to use electricity sparingly and to disconnect any unnecessary appliances and equipment to ensure stability.

You can use the links below to plan your schedules for the rest of the week when rolling blackouts return.

Schedules 

For people living in the major metros, load shedding schedules are available here:

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: The ‘silver lining’ of load shedding and a power crisis for South Africa

Show comments
Subscribe to our daily newsletter