Load shedding update for the weekend – here is the new schedule

Power utility Eskom says that load shedding will be eased slightly for the weekend, moving down to stage 2 and stage 3 until Monday.

Load shedding will continue at stage 3 until 16h00 on Friday (10 February) and will move up to stage 4 as previously planned.

It will then be downgraded to stage 3 until Sunday when it will move to stage 2.

Stage 3 and stage 4 load shedding will be implemented on Monday (13 February).

Friday, 10 February

• Stage 3: until 16h00
• Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00

Saturday, 11 February

• Stage 4: 00h00 to 05h00
• Stage 3: 05h00 to 00h00

Sunday, 12 February

• Stage 3: 00h00 to 05h00
• Stage 2: 05h00 to 16h00
• Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00

Monday, 13 February

• Stage 3: 00h00 to 05h00
• Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00

Over the past 24 hours, two generating units at Arnot, a unit each at Duvha, Kriel and Medupi power stations, were taken offline for repairs, Eskom said.

A generating unit each at Kriel and Tutuka power stations returned to service during the period.

By now it has been drilled into South Africans that the country will continue to experience rolling blackouts for at least the next two years as Eskom struggles to restore capacity to its grid.

The situation has now hit official disaster levels, with President Cyril Ramaphosa declaring a national state of disaster over the blackouts during his State of the Nation Address on Thursday night.

The president said that reducing load shedding in the short term and eliminating it completely over the long term is now a singular focus of the government. He is introducing a new ministry position withing the presidency in the coming weeks, which will give its full attention to the crisis.

Meanwhile, short term mitigation plans include the strengthening of Eskom’s best-performing units, procuring additional capacity from private producers and neighbouring countries, as well as rolling out incentives for rooftop solar.

Ramaphosa said National Treasury will also ensure that Eskom has enough cash to keep buying diesel to keep its Open Cycle Gast Turbines going.

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

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.