It’s hard to believe that we experienced our first load shedding in 2007, the year is 2023 and load shedding has become our everyday reality. The stages have also gotten higher, resulting in more hours without power for average South Africans.
This post was published on 01 Mar, 2023

What is load shedding and why do we have it?

After 1994, Eskom undertook an electrification programme to provide all South Africans with electricity. While the number of South African households who now have access to electricity has grown from 50.7% in 1994 to approximately 92.7% currently, insufficient maintenance and breakdowns to power stations has led to an inability to keep up with the growing electricity demand. As a result, Eskom now has to deliberately cut power to avoid a total system collapse. That is what necessitates what is known as load shedding, a planned switching off to manage the demand of electricity. The duration is between 2 – 4 hours at a time per area.

Load shedding stages – what do they mean?

  • Stage 1: Requires up to 1,000 MW of electricity to be shed and can be implemented three times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or three times over an eight-day period for 4 hours at a time.
  • Stage 2: Will double the frequency of Stage 1 (2,000MW) which means you will be scheduled for load-shedding six times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or six times over an eight-day period for four hours at a time.
  • Stage 3: Will increase the frequency of Stage 2 by 50 percent (3000 MW), which means you will be scheduled for load-shedding nine times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or nine times over an eight-day period for four hours at a time.
  • Stage 4: Will double the frequency of Stage 2, as 4000 MW of power needs to be shared, meaning in total 6 hours of no power.
  • Stage 5: 5000 MW power needs to be shed, the number of hours varies, from 6- 10 hours of no power per 24 hours.
  • Stage 6: 6000 MW power needs to be shed, like stage 5 but more areas are added and off at a single time.
  • Stage 7: 7000 MW power needs to be shed; more areas are off at the same time for 4 hours at a time throughout the day.
  • Stage 8: 8000MW power needs to be shed, resulting to up to 12 hours of no power per 24 hours.

The higher the stage of loadshedding, the outages are frequent and over an extended period. This also means more areas will be out of power at the same time.

There are currently a lot of energy alternatives in the market like solar paneling, gas stoves and LED lighting. Most are quite expensive and not accessible to the average South African. If you decide to install solar panels, remember to use an accredited installer, and notify your insurer of the upgrade in order to ensure you are adequately covered.


SOURCES:

www.eskom.co.za

www.citypower.co.za

To check your area load shedding schedule:

For municipal load shedding schedules:

  • Johannesburg: visit www.citypower.co.za, call 086 056 2874, or follow them on Twitter @CityPowerJhb.
  • Tshwane: visit www.tshwane.gov.za, call (012) 358-2111 / (012) 427-2111 or follow them on Twitter @CityTshwane.
  • Cape Town: visit www.capetown.gov.za, call 0860 103 089, or follow them on Twitter @CityofCT.
  • eThekwini: visit www.durban.gov.za, call 080 13 13 111, or follow them on Twitter @eThekwiniM.
  • Mangaung: visit www.mangaung.co.za or call 0800 111 300

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