Load shedding pushed to stage 6 | here's the latest schedule

Power utility Eskom is escalating load shedding to stage 6 to replenish emergency reserves.

Stage 6 load shedding will kick in from 20h00 on Saturday until 05h00 on Sunday, after which stage 4 load shedding will continue until further notice.

However, the group warned that stage 6 load shedding may have to be implemented again on Sunday evening.

Saturday, 18 February

• Stage 4: until 20h00

• Stage 6: 20h00 to 00h00

Sunday, 19 February

• Stage 6: 00h00 to 05h00

• Stage 4: 05h00 until further notice

South Africans have experienced load shedding everyday of 2023 so far, and rolling blackouts have been implemented on a near permanent basis since September 2022.

Not only has 2023 played host to one of the longest load shedding streaks on record, it has also seen the highest number of days in stage 6 load shedding, with the country experiencing five consecutive days of high level load shedding in January.

Analysts have warned that South Africa is likely to experience more stage 6 and possibly even stage 7 and stage 8 load shedding as the country heads into the winter months.

While Eskom is confident it will be able to avoid high level load shedding – and outgoing CEO Andre de Ruyter has indicated that some more capacity will return by the end of March – the group’s inability to keep breakdowns at bay has cast serious doubt on whether this will be achieved.

Koeberg Unit 1, which provides around 1,000MW of power, will remain out of service until the middle of the year, and breakdowns at Kusile and Medupi power stations totaling 3,000MW are likely to be offline until 2024 at the very least.

Meanwhile, Eskom keeps experiencing breakdowns that frequently stretch over 16,000MW – the group’s ‘worst-case’ scenario in its longer-term outlook for load shedding.

President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the ongoing load shedding crisis a state of disaster, and is appointing a new minister of energy to focus on the crisis. Both of these plans have been met with backlash, while analysts, economists and investors remain unconvinced it will make any difference.

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.