Load Shedding Schedule

Understanding load shedding stages and schedules

Load shedding is the deliberate, rotational switching-off of electricity to protect the national grid. When demand threatens to exceed the supply Eskom can safely generate, cutting some areas temporarily is the only way to stop the entire grid from collapsing - which would take far longer to recover from. The "stage" is simply a measure of how much power needs to be removed, and therefore how often and how long your area goes dark.

What the stages mean

As a rough rule of thumb, each stage represents roughly another 1 000 MW that must be shed from the grid. The higher the stage, the more slots are added to the day and the longer the cumulative outage. At low stages you might lose power once or twice a day; at high stages the same area can be off three times a day for two-hour-plus blocks. Your personal experience depends on your specific area block, because the schedule rotates so that no single area carries the whole burden.

Where this tool gets its data

This page uses the EskomSePush API to look up the current national stage and the schedule for the specific area you search for. That matters because many municipalities - Cape Town is the well-known example - run their own generation or schedules and can be a stage lower than Eskom's national figure. Searching by your actual area, rather than assuming the national stage applies to you, is the only way to get an accurate slot list.

Reading your schedule

Each outage slot is typically around two to two and a half hours, including a buffer on either side while the network is switched. Plan around the start of the slot, not the end, and remember that schedules can be escalated at short notice when the grid comes under sudden strain - a stage announced for the evening can change during the day.

Coping through the dark hours

• Keep phones, laptops and a power bank charged ahead of a known slot.
• A small UPS or inverter keeps your router and a light running through shorter stages.
• Gas for cooking and boiling water removes your dependence on the stove.
• Use surge protection - the moment power returns is when sensitive electronics are most at risk.

Always treat the live schedule as provisional and confirm with your municipality or the official app, since stages can move with little warning.