Power utility Eskom says that load shedding will stay suspended for the rest of the weekend, but will return on Monday (20 March).

Load shedding will continue to be suspended until 05h00 on Monday. Thereafter, Stage 1 load shedding will be implemented from 05h00 until 16h00 on Monday.

Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 16h00 on Monday until 05h00 on Tuesday.

Load shedding will again be suspended from 05h00 until 16h00 on Tuesday, and then stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 16h00 until 16h00 on Wednesday.

Eskom said it will publish a further update as soon as any significant changes occur.

The full schedule is below:

Sunday, 19 March

Monday, 20 March

• Suspended: 00h00 to 05h00
• Stage 1: 05h00 to 16h00
• Stage 2: 16h00 to 00h00

Tuesday, 21 March

• Stage 2: 00h00 to 05h00
• Suspended: 05h00 to 16h00
• Stage 2: 16h00 to 00h00

Wednesday, 22 March

• Stage 2: 00h00 to 16h00
• Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00

Breakdowns are currently at 15,645MW of generating capacity while 4,942MW of generating capacity is out of service for planned maintenance.

During the last 24 hours, a generating unit at Duvha Power Station was taken offline for repairs. The delays in returning units to service at Matla, Tutuka and Medupi power stations continue.

South Africa has experienced near-permanent load shedding since September 2022. Since October 2022, the country has had 140 consecutive days of blackouts – including every single day of 2023 so far.

Schedules 

For people living in the major metros, load shedding schedules are available here:

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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