Gauteng Faces Another Week of Load Reduction: What Residents Need to Know

Even though South Africa is enjoying a rare break from nationwide load shedding, Gauteng residents are still being asked to live with the lights out, this time under Eskom’s load reduction programme.

For many, the term “load reduction” feels like a backdoor version of load shedding. And in a way, it is. The difference? While load shedding balances national demand with limited supply, load reduction is Eskom’s targeted response to overloading in specific communities, often linked to illegal connections, meter tampering, and infrastructure theft.

Where and When the Power Will Go Off

This week’s schedule runs from Monday to Sunday, hitting both mornings (5am to 9am) and evenings (5pm to 10pm). Power cuts can last up to six hours in certain areas.

• Morning cuts: Tsakane, Vryburg, Diepsloot, Mapetla, Protea City, Kagiso, Makapanstad, Stinkwater, Naledi and others.

• Evening cuts: Beverly Hills, Cuba, Thabiso, Graceland, Orlando East, Cosmo City, Soweto Nomzamo, Rethabiseng, and surrounding extensions.

Other affected areas on rotation this week include Garankuwa, Mathibestad, Rabie Ridge, Diepkloof, Chiawelo, Dube, Orange Farm, and Protea North.

For residents, this means preparing for outages just as families are getting ready for work and school or settling in for dinner at night.

Why Gauteng Is Still in the Dark

Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has been candid about the reasons:

• Illegal connections that overload local networks.

• Vandalism and theft of Eskom equipment.

• Tampered meters and unlicensed electricity sales.

Ramokgopa stressed that load reduction is a planned intervention, not an emergency measure. Still, the frustration remains, especially as law-abiding residents feel they’re being punished for problems beyond their control.

Public Reaction: More Anger Than Acceptance

On social media, many Gauteng residents are venting their anger. Twitter (X) timelines are filled with posts like “Load shedding is gone, but load reduction is here, same story, different name” and “How do you cook supper with no power every second evening?”

Community groups in Soweto and Tsakane have also raised concerns that the measures unfairly hit working-class households already struggling with high food and transport costs.

A Deeper Problem

The persistence of load reduction highlights a bigger challenge in South Africa’s electricity landscape: a growing trust gap between Eskom and communities. While the utility says it must protect infrastructure from collapse, residents argue that better law enforcement against illegal connections and investment in upgrading networks, would ease the burden on paying customers.

For now, though, the weekly schedules are Eskom’s way of managing crisis at the local level, even as the broader grid stabilises.

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{Source: The Citizen}

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