Eskom eases load shedding – here’s the updated schedule
Power utility Eskom says that load shedding will be reduced for the rest of the week – at least until further notice.
Due to the return of a generating unit each at Kriel, Majuba and Matimba power stations, stage 5 load shedding will not be implemented on Wednesday as previously communicated.
Stage 4 load shedding will continue to be implemented until further notice.
Wednesday, 8 March
- Stage 5: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 4: 05h00 to 00h00
Thursday, 9 March
- Stage 4: 00h00 until further notice
While load shedding will be eased slightly for the rest of the week, it will do little to save South Africa’s economy from an impending technical recession.
According to data published by Stats SA this week, South Africa’s economy shrank by 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2022, with economists warning that the first quarter of 2023 is likely to yield a similar result.
The contraction was much larger than expectations by economists, coming as a shock to the economy.
The main driver behind the decline was load shedding, with near-permanent rolling blackouts being in effect for the entire quarter. Only two days in the last three months of the year were free of load shedding.
For 2023, the numbers do not look good.
The country has experienced high stages of load shedding every day of the year so far – averaging stage 4 – and it has seen the longest periods of stage 6 load shedding on record.
According to estimates from the South African Reserve Bank, these levels of load shedding cost the economy up to R900 million a day they are in effect. The impact of load shedding is so severe – and the SARB expects it to continue for at least 200 days this year – that it cut growth expectations for 2023 to just 0.3%.
Following the GDP numbers published this week, major banks have followed suit, cutting growth forecasts to between 0.1% and 0.4% – with risks to the downside.
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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