Eastern Cape Braces For 14 Hour Planned Power Outage As Eskom Schedules Major Maintenance

Residents in parts of the Eastern Cape are now preparing for a full day without electricity after Eskom announced a 14 hour planned maintenance outage set for mid March. The interruption will affect communities across Nelson Mandela Bay and the Sunday’s River Valley, two regions already familiar with long waits for repairs and fluctuating supply.

A Full Day In The Dark

The utility has confirmed that the planned shutdown will take place on 12 March, starting at 5:00 and ending at 19:00. An alternative date of 19 March has also been issued in case weather or operational issues force a delay.

For many residents, a 14 hour stretch without power means reorganising daily routines. From school drop-offs and business operations to farming and food preparation, households across the region will need to plan around a long day of limited resources.

Who Will Be Affected

A wide stretch of communities will feel the impact, with the outage affecting both residential and rural areas. The list includes:

Kirkwood town, Kirkwood Prison, Glenconner, Bluecliff, Steytlerville, Vuyolwethu, Kleinpoort, Moses Mabhida, Wesbank, Wolfontein, Addo Park, Valencia, Paterson, Langbos, Jansenville, Besheba, Enon and Dunbrody.

For many of these towns, access to electricity is closely tied to farming activity, water pump operations and cold storage. A prolonged outage can disrupt far more than household lighting.

Why This Maintenance Matters

Eskom says the shutdown is part of ongoing efforts to stabilise the local grid and prevent unexpected breakdowns that can result in even longer outages. According to the utility, the work forms part of essential infrastructure repairs intended to improve reliability over the long term.

Maintenance on the Eastern Cape network has become increasingly important. The region has faced ageing infrastructure, vandalism and storm damage over the years, making proactive repairs critical to preventing more disruptive failures.

Residents Urged To Prepare Early

As always, Eskom has warned that power could return at any time during the scheduled window. Homes and businesses are urged to treat all appliances as live and to prepare well in advance by:

• Charging devices the night before

• Arranging backup power where possible

• Preparing meals ahead of time

• Ensuring medical devices and cold storage have contingency plans

The utility has apologised for the disruption but maintains that this type of maintenance is necessary to strengthen the network.

A Familiar Challenge For Many Communities

For residents in these municipalities, planned outages are a reminder of the broader reality of South Africa’s ongoing energy challenges. While this is not load shedding, the long hours without electricity will feel familiar to communities that have spent years adapting to interruptions.

Still, many see the maintenance as a necessary step if it helps reduce the risk of even more severe and unexpected outages later in the year.

{Source:The South African}

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