Eskom announces all-day stage 5 load shedding

Power utility Eskom has announced indefinite stage 5 load shedding due to higher-than-anticipated demand.

Stage 5 load shedding will continue from 05h00 (12 April) until further notice. Eskom will provide an update later this afternoon.

Cape Town will, however, will only have stage 4 load shedding, the city said.

The municipality is able to reduce higher levels of load shedding through its 180MW Steenbras pumped-storage dam.

This announcement follows Eskom suspending load shedding for periods of the Easter weekend. The country has been near-permanent load shedding since September 2022, only breaking from the blackouts for three days.

The South African Reserve Bank anticipates the country to face a total of 250 days of load shedding – stalling businesses and hampering economic growth.

Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and analysts alike have said that South Africa may be in for a cold dark winter. According to the City of Cape Town, colder temperatures typically amount to higher power usage.

The city added that if electrical appliances are not switched off prior to load-shedding, it could take longer to restore power after load-shedding. If you’d like to reduce the risk of extended outages, please switch off.

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.

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