Charge up, load shedding continues

The cooler weather will be a blessing as Eskom has announced that load shedding stage one will start again today.

The northern network of KwaDukuza, covering Groutville to Nonoti, as well as Tongaat CBD, La Mercy North and Westbrook will be without power from 10am till 12pm.

Tongaat beach, La Mercy and Umdloti will be affected from 4pm to 6pm – a good time for that afternoon nap.

Ballito and surrounds will be in the dark from 6pm to 8.30pm, so prep dinner early or treat yourself to a night out.

ALERT: Eskom will implement stage 1 loadshedding from 9am to 10pm today. The national grid remains constrained due to high plant breakdowns. Residents are urged to visit the websites of, and/or call, their local electricity suppliers for a list of which areas will be affected.

— Khulu Phasiwe (@KhuluPhasiwe) December 8, 2018

Eskom appealed to residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly by switching off geysers, non-essential lighting and electrical appliances that are not in use.

The greater Ballito area:

Load shedding KwaDukuza northern network schedule (from Groutville to Nonoti)

Load shedding stages

Four schedules have been developed based on the possibility of risk and to ensure that load shedding is applied in a fair and equitable manner:

• Stage 1 allows for up to 1000 MW of the national load to be shed.
• Stage 2 allows for up to 2000 MW of the national load to be shed.
• Stage 3 allows for up to 3000 MW of the national load to be shed.
• Stage 4 allows for up to 4000 MW of the national load to be shed.

Load shedding will be implemented in most instances in two hour blocks.

Once Eskom has decided the time frame in which it will implement load shedding nationally (eg: from 9am – 10pm), and which stage they are in, you can visit their website for a copy of the load shedding schedule, which will tell you exactly when you will be affected, should your time slot fall within the load shedding time frame selected by Eskom.

BUT, if load shedding changes stages, it is possible you could be affected twice in one day.

Example: If stage 1 load shedding is implemented from 9am – 10pm, and the schedule for your area says you will be affected from 10am – 12pm, you will be without power between 10am – 12pm. But if it moves to stage 2, and your stage 2 schedule says you will be without power from 4pm – 6pm, then you will also be without power from 4pm to 6pm.