Load reduction schedule: Eskom to implement power cuts in six provinces

Eskom announced on Wednesday 12 May 2021 that load reduction will be implemented across South Africa once again on Thursday to “avoid network overloading in high-density areas”.

Here’s what you need to know.

Eskom load reduction — Thursday 13 May

Load reduction will be implemented in the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and the North West between 5:00 to 9:00.

The power utility urges residents to switch off all electrical appliances during this time.

“Failure to do so may lead to transformer trips or failures, and damages to household appliances when supply is restored. Please do not report this outage”.

Gauteng

Eskom warned that load reduction will be implemented in Soweto and Midrand, due to the same issues as mentioned above. The following areas will be affected between 5:00 to 9:00:

Main area	Sub areas
Soweto	Bram Fischerville, Dobsonville, Dobsonville Gardens, Doornkop, Dube, Emdeni, Jabulani, Mmesi Park, Mfolo North, Moletsane, Naledi, Tladi, Zola and Zondi.
Midran	Glen Austin

Free State

Eskom urges residents to follow updates from the power utility’s social media accounts, and remind residents that these outages should not be reported. The following areas in Lejweleputswa District will be affected between 5:00 to 9:00:

Substation Feeder name	Areas affected in the Free State
Bahale SW STN – Beta	Part of Maditshakane
Bahale SW STN – Charlie	Part of Maditshakane
Bahale SW STN – DELTA	Part of Maditshakane

To avoid overloading the Eskom network and damage to our infrastructure in high-density areas that are prone to network overloading, Eskom will implement load reduction during the evening peak hours of Thursday”.

Mpumalanga

Eskom said it was “battling to keep up with the increased equipment failure caused by overloading” in the area. It’s currently costin the embattled power utility “millions to repair”.

Load reduction in Mpumalanga will be implemented between 5:00 to 9:00 on Thursday, 13 May 2021. The following areas in the Ehlanzeni District will be affected.

• Matsulu C
• Cunningmore
• Shishila
• Kamaqhekeza
• Schoemansdal
• Orinoco

• Bereta
• Steenbok
• Matsulu B
• Calcutta
• Manzini
• Mluti

In addition, Kwaggafontein A under the Nkangala District will be affected between 5:00 and 9:00 as well.

Limpopo

Eskom is also struggling with overloading in Limpopo, which in turn leads to explosions at substations. The following areas in Mopani District and Capricorn District will be affected between 5:00 to 9:00.

District	Feeder / point	Sub areas
Mopani District	Lenyenye / Tickey 11kV	Rita, Khopo Pulaneng, Parts of Lenyenyen, Sharpville, Maake Plaze
Mopani District	Mamitwa / Babanana 22kV	Musiphane, Nkambako, Hlaysisani, Mogwazeni, Malobana, Mercury Village, Maweni Village
Capricorn District	Dendron / Hlahla 22kV	Ga Hlahla, Ram 2

KwaZulu-Natal

The following areas will be affected between 5:00 to 9:00 on Thursday, 13 May 2021.

Image via Eskom: Twitter

North West

In the North West province, the Rustenburg sector will be subjected to load reduction between 5:00 to 9:00 on Thursday, specifically Bapong.

Lastly, Eskom urges all customers to report meter bypasses, illegal connections and vandalism of electricity infrastructure on the Eskom Crime Line: 0800 11 27 22.

Now read: Here’s how long South Africans spent in load shedding last year