Power utility Eskom says that load shedding will be reduced for the rest of the week – at least until further notice.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Stage 4 load shedding will continue to be implemented until further notice.<\/p>\n
Wednesday, 8 March\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Thursday, 9 March\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The contraction was much larger than expectations by economists, coming as a shock to the economy.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n For 2023, the numbers do not look good.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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%.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Schedules\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n For people living in the major metros, load shedding schedules are available here:<\/p>\n For access to other load shedding schedules, Eskom has made them available on\u00a0loadshedding.eskom.co.za.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n\n
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