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No Power, No Peace: Gauteng’s Tough Load Reduction Schedule for July

Published

1 month ago

July 28, 2025

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Unplugged in Peak Hours as Residents Brace for Power Cuts Across the Province

If you’re waking up to darkness or wrapping up your day in candlelight, you’re not alone. Eskom’s latest load reduction schedule is hitting Gauteng hard, and for many communities, July has been a month of enduring cold nights and powerless mornings.

Six Hours a Day in the Dark

Eskom’s load reduction plan for Gauteng, active from Monday to Sunday, targets high-density and often vulnerable areas for scheduled blackouts during peak usage times. While it may not technically be “load shedding” in the traditional sense, it feels just as frustrating, especially when you’re facing five to six hours without electricity each day.

Morning outages typically hit between 5am and 9am, just as many are getting ready for work or school. Areas like Duduza, Protea Glen, Tsakane, Dobsonville, and Mabopane are all on the chopping block during these early hours.

In the evenings, from 5pm to 10pm, the power goes out in parts of Mofolo, Slovoville, Dlamini, Kagiso, and Khutsong, leaving families to navigate homework, dinner, and safety concerns in the dark.

Communities Hit the Hardest

This isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s disruptive and, for some, dangerous. Areas affected this week include Rethabiseng, Moroka, Kudube, Meadowlands, Riverside, Skhosana, Chiawelo, Zola, and Langaville.

Other impacted zones include informal settlements and townships like Cuba, Graceland, Havana, Jetta, and Lakeside, where infrastructure is already under pressure and backup power options are out of reach for most residents.

A Seven-Day Rotation, But No Real Relief

Eskom says the seven-day rotation allows communities to predict when they’ll be affected. But for many residents, especially in areas without consistent communication from the utility provider, that schedule doesn’t always arrive in time or in a usable format.

Social Media Speaks Out

Frustrated residents have taken to social media to voice their anger and confusion. On X (formerly Twitter), hashtags like #LoadReduction, #EskomFail, and #DarkGauteng have trended as residents post photos of traffic jams, cold dinners, and candles burning in cramped living spaces.

“We’re not just load reduced. We’re forgotten,” one user posted, highlighting the sense of neglect felt in underserved communities.

The Bigger Picture: Why Load Reduction Is Still Happening

Unlike load shedding, which is a nationwide response to power supply constraints, load reduction targets specific high-risk zones where illegal connections, overuse, and infrastructure damage pose threats to the grid.

Eskom argues it’s a preventative measure. Critics say it’s just another way poor and working-class areas are left to bear the brunt of South Africa’s ongoing power crisis.

What You Can Do

Residents can download the July 2025 Gauteng Load Reduction Schedule from Eskom’s website or community WhatsApp groups. Keeping candles, solar lights, and fully charged power banks on hand has become standard advice, but for many, that’s cold comfort.

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