Gauteng households continue to experience power cuts under Eskom's load reduction program
via The Citizen3 min read
While South Africa has marked 340 days without load shedding, thousands of households in Gauteng are still experiencing daily power outages due to Eskom’s load reduction program. Eskom differentiates load reduction from load shedding, explaining that load reduction targets specific communities affected by illegal connections and aging infrastructure, unlike load shedding which is a national measure for insufficient generation capacity. The utility's load reduction program involves rotating schedules, with some areas facing outages of up to four or five hours. This week, various regions across Gauteng will experience power cuts during both morning 5am to 9am and evening 5pm to 10pm windows. Affected areas include Moroka, Dhlamini, Tsakane, GaRankuwa, Winterveldt, Tlhabologo, Mabopane, Tsebe, Odinburg Gardens, Klippan, Kagiso, Protea City, Diepkloof zones 1 to 6, Spruit View, Orlando East, Tshepiso, Chiawelo, Diepsloot, Cosmo City, South Roodepoort, Zandspruit, Nomzamo, Langaville, and City of Johannesburg Lakeside, among others. Eskom aims to eliminate load reduction entirely by 2027 through a phased program targeting 971 feeders and approximately 1.69 million customers. Key interventions include the rollout of smart meters, integration of Distributed Energy Resources, expansion of free basic electricity support, and customer education initiatives. Eskom noted that despite the underlying issues, the power system remains stable and generation capacity exceeds demand, with South
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