Stage 3 load shedding is back

Power utility Eskom says stage 3 load shedding will be implemented on Friday (31 January) and will run for the weekend.
The utility said that it has been hit by a ‘perfect storm’ of incidents that have brought outages back.
Eskom put out an alert on Friday (31 January) warning that load shedding could return at short notice over the weekend, and it could hit as high as stage 4.
However, this has now been confirmed to be stage 3, kicking in from 17h00 on Friday, and running for the entire weekend or until further notice.
It added that the risk of escalating to stage 4 remains—if more units trip or there are significant delays—but the current outlook is that stage 3 will be maintained.
The utility said that it experienced several breakdowns at its power stations that required it to use its reserves.
However, by Friday, the reserves were used up and it needed to replenish them, putting the grid at risk.
At a State of the System media briefing on Friday, electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said that Eskom and the government at large had always made it clear that load shedding was not over, and the current risks underlined this.
While the country has seen a long period of no load shedding—currently 10 months of no outages—setbacks were bound to happen, the minister said.
This is one of those setbacks, he said.
The ‘perfect storm’ that hit includes:
- Units were out for planned maintenance
- 6 units at key power stations broke down – 5 of which are still offline
- Other downed units were delayed in coming back online
- Eskom has been depending on its OCGTs
- The reserves have been exhausted, and the reserve margins have to be maintained
“We were under the impression that load shedding was behind us, but we have to protect the integrity of the system,” Ramokgopa said. “It’s disappointing to all of us…but the trendline is in the right direction.”
Eskom said that it would spend the weekend returning units back to power. Breakdowns have exceeded 13,000MW, which is in line with the planned-for scenarios in its summer outlook.
City of Cape Town protections
The City of Cape Town alerted its residents that it has activated load shedding protections, which will allow the metro to curb load shedding by two stages.
“Throughout the weekend, we will protect the city from at least one and sometimes two stages of load-shedding. Please monitor City social media and web platforms for updates if Eskom’s load-shedding persists,” it said.
While the rest of the country moves to stage 3 at 17h00, Cape Town will be at stage 1, moving to stage 3 at 22h00.
The schedule is subject to change, thereafter.
Cape Town load shedding, 31 January 2025
- Stage 1: 17:00 – 22:00
- Stage 3: 22:00 – 06:00
Eskom said it will give an update on Sunday, 2 February 2025.