Thousands of Gauteng households continue to lose power daily under Eskom’s load reduction programme, even as South Africa marks 347 consecutive days without load shedding.
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 this week from Tuesday, 28 April, to Thursday, 30 April, 2026.
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 several regions across Gauteng will be without power during the early morning window each day this week.
On Tuesday morning, Block C areas face cuts from 5am to 9am.
Affected areas include Kopanong, Mabopane, Winterveldt, Jabulani, Dobsonville, Moletsane, and Tladi.
Other affected areas are Emdeni, Naledi, Zola, Langaville, Tsakane and its extensions, and Danville.
Wednesday’s morning slot hits Block G communities stretching across Tsakane, Zithobeni, Wagbeentjieskop, Bronkhorstspruit, Roodepoort, Rooipoort, Rushof, and Mabopane.
Other affected areas include Klippan, Odinburg Gardens, Winterveldt, Garankuwa, Hebron, Soshanguve, Greystone Farm, Hartebeesfontein, Kaalfontein, Kiepersol, Leeufontein, Nicoria, Rayton, and Rhenosterfontein.
Thursday morning, Block H communities are affected, including Vereeniging, Sharpeville, Beverley Hills-East, Boitumelo, Evaton, Evaton Small Farms and Sebokeng proper.
Evening load reduction
The evening window carries an equally broad footprint across the three days.
Tuesday evening’s Block D cuts, running from 5pm to 10pm, fall on Moroka, Dhlamini, Klipspruit, Chiawelo, Kagiso, Khutsong, Tsakane, Tsakane Extensions 1, 3, 8, 11 and 12, and Langaville Extension 3.
On Wednesday evening, two blocks are simultaneously affected. Block B communities losing power include Dube and Dube Extension 1, Meadowlands zones 6, 7, 8 and 9, Meadowlands West zone 9 and 10, Meadowlands East zone 3 and 4, Luipaardsvlei and Riverside.
Thursday evening, Block l communities will also be without power from 5pm to 10pm.
Those affected include Monise, Mokoena, Mavimbela, Zuma, Ramakonopi and Ramakonopi East, Radebe, Sali and Mngadi.
Why Eskom says load reduction continues despite a stable grid
The utility acknowledged that the underlying problem persists even as the broader power system holds steady.
“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.
The power utility added that it is acting out of necessity in targeted communities.
“In response, Eskom continues to implement load reduction as a temporary measure in high-risk areas to protect both communities and the electricity network,” it said.
Eskom’s system performance hits multiyear highs
While load reduction continues to affect parts of Gauteng, Eskom’s overall system performance has shown marked improvement.
The utility said on 24 April that despite continued weather-related increases in demand and elevated planned maintenance at power stations, it had sustained a stable and reliable power system.
Eskom reported that for the financial year to date, covering 1 to 23 April, 2026, its Energy Availability Factor stood at 60.47%, up from 55.99% from the same period last year.
This is despite increased planned maintenance averaging 7 847MW since the start of the current financial year.
The utility also reported a sharp decline in the cost of keeping the lights on.
“Improved fleet performance and significantly lower diesel usage reflect sustained progress under the Generation Recovery Plan and signal growing operational resilience and cost efficiency across the system,” Eskom said.
It noted that diesel expenditure has declined by 87.49% year-on-year for the financial year to date.
According to the utility, between 17 and 23 April, 2026, average unplanned outages declined to 12 173MW.
This is a reduction of 1109MW compared to the 13 282MW recorded over the same period last year.
Eskom said the Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor for that period came in at 25.75%, a reduction of 2.11% compared with 27.86% recorded during the same period in the prior year, further contributing towards available capacity.
“Since 16 May, 2025, South Africa has recorded 343 consecutive days without interruptions to electricity supply, reflecting system availability of approximately 98.9%,” Eskom said.
To see if your area is affected, click on or download the document below:
