Eskom removes load reduction for 700k households, but thousands in Gauteng still face scheduled cuts

What Eskom reported

Eskom said approximately 714,513 customers are no longer affected by load reduction, which it said amounts to more than 42% of targeted households. The utility reported the country has gone 408 consecutive days without load shedding.

On 5 June, Eskom said generation availability had improved year-on-year: the financial year-to-date Energy Availability Factor (EAF) rose to 63.05%, up from 57.67% over the same period last year. The utility said these gains were driven by “stronger plant performance, improved reliability, and targeted network interventions to address localised constraints, enabling more communities to benefit from continuous electricity supply.”

Plans and limits on elimination

Eskom said full elimination of load reduction had already been achieved in the Northern and Western Cape. It said full elimination is planned in seven provinces by October 2026, with the remaining areas to follow by 2027 as targeted interventions continue to address localised network constraints.

The utility cautioned that illegal connections and meter tampering continue to damage infrastructure in localised areas, and it described load reduction as “a temporary, targeted measure in high-risk areas to protect both communities and the electricity network.”

Supply steps and winter demand

To bolster supply ahead of winter peaks, Eskom brought 3,903MW of additional generation capacity online ahead of the evening peak on Monday, 8 June. The utility reported a forecast evening peak demand of 26,248MW for that evening.

Gauteng: targeted load reduction schedule (8–15 June 2026)

Despite the national progress, many Gauteng communities remain on a published load-reduction schedule for 8 to 15 June 2026. The schedule assigns morning outage windows from 5am to 9am and evening windows from 5pm to 10pm across named blocks. Key points from the published schedule include:

• Monday: Block C faces the morning window (5am–9am) affecting areas such as Dobsonville, Naledi, Mabopane and Jabulani; Block D is scheduled for the evening slot (5pm–10pm) including Rethabiseng, Kudube, Moroka, Kagiso and parts of Tsakane.
• Tuesday: Morning outages (5am–9am) will affect Blocks E and J, including Mapetla, Protea North, Makapanstad, Orange Farm and Sebokeng units; the evening slot (5pm–10pm) moves to Block F, including Cuba, Graceland, Diepkloof and Orlando East.
• Wednesday: Morning outages (5am–9am) fall on Block G, affecting Ga-Rankuwa and nearby areas; the evening window (5pm–10pm) is Block H, including Vereeniging Sharpeville and multiple Sebokeng units.
• Thursday: Morning (5am–9am) shared by Blocks I and J, affecting Vosloorus, Orange Farm extensions and other areas; evening (5pm–10pm) returns to Block E.
• Friday: Morning (5am–9am) is Block D; evening (5pm–10pm) is Block C, again affecting Dobsonville, Naledi and Mabopane areas and parts of Tsakane.
• Saturday: Morning (5am–9am) spans Blocks J and I, affecting Orange Farm, Sharpeville, Vosloorus and Mabuya Park; evening (5pm–10pm) shifts to Block G.
• Sunday: Morning (5am–9am) falls on Block B, affecting Dube, Mofolo, Meadowlands and Cosmo City extensions; evening (5pm–10pm) moves to Block A, including Ivory Park extensions, Kaalfontein extensions, Rabie Ridge and Protea Glen Outlying.
• Next Monday: Morning (5am–9am) returns to Block E; the evening window (5pm–10pm) will be shared between Blocks F and J, affecting communities such as Cuba, Diepkloof, Orlando East, Orange Farm extensions, Sebokeng units and Zonkizizwe.

The published schedule indicates specific suburbs and extension numbers for each block across the week. Eskom provided a downloadable document titled Load-reduction-schedule-GAUTENG-JUNE-2026-Download for residents to check whether their area is affected.

What this means for residents

While Eskom reported measurable improvement in generation availability and the removal of hundreds of thousands of households from load reduction, the utility’s published schedule shows that targeted outages remain active in many Gauteng communities for the week of 8–15 June 2026.

Residents in listed areas are affected by morning and evening windows and can consult the published load-reduction document to confirm their status.