While South Africa marks 340 days without load shedding, thousands of Gauteng households are still losing power daily under Eskom’s load reduction programme.
The utility says it has a plan to end it.
For many Gauteng residents, power cuts remain part of daily life.
Eskom continues to implement its load reduction programme, affecting dozens of communities across the province on a rotating basis.
The power utility has drawn a clear distinction between load reduction and load shedding.
It said unlike load shedding, which is a national demand-management measure triggered by insufficient generation capacity, load reduction targets specific communities where illegal connections and ageing infrastructure place localised networks under sustained pressure.
“The load reduction outages follow a rotating schedule that varies by area,” Eskom said.
The utility noted that some areas will face outages of up to four hours, while others could experience interruptions of up to five hours.
Morning load reduction
Eskom’s latest schedule shows that several regions across Gauteng will be without power during the early morning window each day this week.
Among the areas facing morning cuts are Moroka, Dhlamini, Tsakane and its extensions, GaRankuwa, Winterveldt, and Tlhabologo. Other communities in the morning slot include Mabopane, Tsebe, Odinburg Gardens, Klippan, Kagiso and Protea City.
This week’s morning window, running from 5am to 9am, rotates across multiple blocks.
On Tuesday, Block I areas are affected, while Block J communities face cuts on Thursday, Friday and Monday.
Block A areas, including Garankuwa, Ivory Park, Kaalfontein, Rabie Ridge and Protea Glen, face morning cuts on both Friday and Sunday.
Evening load reduction
The evening window carries an equally broad footprint.
According to Eskom’s schedule, areas facing power interruptions in the 5pm to 10pm slot include Diepkloof zones 1 to 6, Spruit View, Orlando East, Tshepiso, Chiawelo and Diepsloot.
Further areas on the evening schedule include Cosmo City, South Roodepoort, Zandspruit, Nomzamo, Langaville and City of Johannesburg Lakeside.
Thursday’s evening rotation affects Block G communities across a wide stretch, covering Tsakane, Zithobeni, Wagbeentjieskop, Mabopane, Tsebe, Odinburg Gardens, Garankuwa, Hebron, Greystone Farm, Rietvlei, Cullinan and Ramakonopi East, among others.
On Sunday evening, Block H areas are affected, including Vereeniging, Sharpeville, Beverley Hills-East, Boitumelo, Evaton, Westside Park, Daveyton Extensions and Etwatwa.
Additional areas affected this week
Beyond the two main daily windows, Eskom’s schedule also confirms that the following areas will be affected by load reduction this week:
- Koi Koi;
- Rabie Ridge;
- Naledi;
- Meadowlands;
- Westonaria;
- Moletsane;
- Khutsong;
- Jabavu and its extensions;
- Hillsview-East;
- Dobsonville; and
- Emdeni.
More than 342 000 customers freed from load reduction
On 17 April, Eskom reported a significant milestone in its efforts to wind down the programme, announcing that “342 701 customers no longer affected during peak periods and smart meter rollout ongoing”.
The utility acknowledged, however, that the underlying problem persists.
“Although the power system remains stable and generation capacity continues to exceed demand, illegal connections and meter tampering persist, causing infrastructure damage and posing serious safety risks,” Eskom said.
“In response, Eskom continues to implement load reduction as a temporary measure in high-risk areas to protect both communities and the electricity network.”
Eskom’s plan to eliminate load reduction by 2027
To address the crisis sustainably, Eskom has launched a phased programme with a 2027 deadline for ending load reduction entirely.
The programme targets 971 feeders and is expected to benefit approximately 1.69 million customers across all provinces, out of Eskom’s total customer base of 7.2 million.
“Key interventions include the rollout of smart meters, the integration of Distributed Energy Resources, and the expansion of free basic electricity support,” Eskom said.
“These measures will be accompanied by targeted customer education initiatives.”
The utility also contextualised the programme within the national grid’s broader performance.
“Since 16 May 2025, South Africa has achieved 336 consecutive days without an interruption in electricity supply, approximately 98.9% availability,” Eskom said.
The utility added that supply interruptions during that period were limited to just 26 hours across four days in April and May 2025.
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