Another week of the load shedding rollercoaster – Here’s your schedule

Eskom said it would continue with stage six rolling blackouts from Monday afternoon, with varying stages throughout the week. Here’s what your load shedding schedule looks like.

Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said a 7% wage increase is currently being discussed but unions have not yet reached an agreement.

Some workers have returned to their posts but it is still not enough to make up for the maintenance delays and restore the wobbling power supply.

You might need to take a day off to study the load shedding schedule – as we swing from stage six to stage two and everything in between.

Load shedding update

Maintenance and breakdowns

Despite load shedding being implemented non-stop throughout the week, Eskom said “it will still take a few weeks for the power generation system to fully recover to pre-strike levels”.

Of course…

The schedule is entirely dependent on factors out of our control – but don’t forget, use electricity sparingly – as Eskom’s protesting workforce returns to their posts at the country’s power plants for much-needed repairs.

If that isn’t bad enough, nearly 50% of Eskom’s entire grid is down, and not due to maintenance either…

As of Sunday evening, Eskom had 3,384 MW on planned maintenance, while another 18,319 MW was “unavailable due to breakdowns”.

Load shedding schedule

The schedule below is subject to change; only Monday and Tuesday’s stages have been confirmed. Eskom says Wednesday to Friday is “dependent on returning generation units to service”.

Your Monday starts off with a cool stage four from 5am to 4pm, followed by stage six from 4pm and 10pm, and back down to stage 4 from 10pm to 12am.

It’s pretty much the same on Tuesday, except that stage five is thrown into the mix:

• 12am to 5am: Stage two
• 5am to 4pm: Stage four
• 4pm to 10pm: Stage five
• 10pm to 12am: Stage four