South Africa hit 300 consecutive days without load shedding on 12 March 2026 — a milestone most of us barely dared imagine two years ago. But load shedding has come back before, and knowing exactly how to check your area’s schedule the moment Eskom flips the switch remains one of the most practical skills any South African student or renter can have. This guide walks you through every method, from official sources to the apps that do the heavy lifting for you.
Load shedding is currently suspended. Eskom confirmed on 13 March 2026 that South Africa has reached 300 consecutive days without interruptions, driven by a 53% drop in unplanned outages and an Energy Availability Factor (EAF) consistently above 65%. That said, conditions can change without much notice — bookmark this page and keep EskomSePush installed.
What the Load Shedding Stages Actually Mean
Before you can use a schedule, you need to know which stage is active — because the same suburb can lose power twice a day at Stage 2 and four times a day at Stage 4. Each stage represents an additional 1,000MW that Eskom needs to remove from the grid.
| Stage | MW Removed | Typical Outages Per Day | Duration Per Slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | 1,000MW | 1 outage | 2 hours |
| Stage 2 | 2,000MW | 2 outages | 2 hours each |
| Stage 3 | 3,000MW | 3 outages | 2 hours each |
| Stage 4 | 4,000MW | 4 outages | 2 hours each |
| Stage 5 | 5,000MW | 2 outages | 4 hours each |
| Stage 6 | 6,000MW | 2 outages | 4–6 hours each |
| Stage 7 | 7,000MW | Multiple | 4 hours each |
| Stage 8 | 8,000MW | Multiple | Up to 12+ hours total |
Note: Each higher stage includes all the outage slots from the stages below it. So if your block is scheduled for 08:00–10:30 under Stage 2, that slot will still apply at Stage 4 — but you’ll have additional outages added on top.
How to Check Your Load Shedding Schedule Right Now
There are four ways to check, ranked from most recommended to most effort-intensive. For most students, Option 1 is all you’ll ever need.
Download the free ESP app on Android or iOS. Search your suburb by name (not block number), set up push notifications, and it will warn you roughly 55 minutes before your power goes off. You can follow multiple areas — home, campus, work — all in one place. The app reached 9.8 million downloads on Google Play by late 2025 and has a 4.69 rating from over 230,000 reviews. Unlike many tools, it uses your actual suburb name, not a confusing block-and-group system.
Go directly to loadshedding.eskom.co.za and use the search box to find your area. This only works if Eskom is your direct supplier — meaning your electricity bill comes from Eskom, not a municipality. If your bill comes from City Power, the City of Cape Town, or eThekwini, use their portals instead (see below). From the site, you can also download the full PDF schedule for Stages 1 to 8 and save it offline.
If you live in a major metro, your municipality often runs a slightly different (or offset) schedule from Eskom’s national one. Always check through the right channel for your city. See the table below for direct links per metro.
Sites like ourpower.co.za and loadshedding.com pull from public Eskom data and automatically adjust to the current active stage. They’re useful on desktop if you don’t want an app. Just be aware: always verify from official sources before important deadlines. A wave of fake news websites has been spreading fabricated load shedding schedules — a News24 investigation in 2025 traced multiple bogus sites to a single operator, so stick to the verified tools listed here.
Schedule by City: Where to Check If You’re in a Metro
Municipal customers — those who receive their electricity bill from a city rather than directly from Eskom — follow a schedule set by their municipality, which may differ from the national Eskom timetable. Here’s exactly where to go for the main metros:
The quickest way to tell: who sends your electricity bill? If it comes from Eskom, you’re a direct Eskom customer. If it comes from a metro (City Power, the City of Cape Town, eThekwini, etc.), you’re a municipal customer. Municipal schedules can differ from the national Eskom stage timing — sometimes by hours. Using the wrong schedule source is the most common reason people get caught off guard.
How to Set Up EskomSePush Properly (Step by Step)
Most people download the app and never configure it past the first screen. Here’s how to get the most out of it, especially if you’re a student splitting time between home and campus.
Where Things Stand in 2026
South Africa’s electricity supply situation has improved dramatically since the dark days of 2023, when the country endured 284 days of load shedding. In 2025, load shedding totalled just 26 hours — all of it in April and May. By 12 March 2026, Eskom confirmed 300 consecutive days without any interruptions.
The improvement is driven by Eskom’s Generation Recovery Plan, which pushed the Energy Availability Factor to 65.85% for the current financial year (April 2025 to March 2026) — up significantly from around 57% in the same period a year earlier. Unplanned outages have dropped by 53% compared to the previous year, and diesel expenditure fell by R8.58 billion year-on-year, a 57% reduction.
The risks that could bring load shedding back include a major unexpected plant breakdown, adverse winter weather, or rising demand during peak cold months. Eskom’s summer outlook, published in September 2025, projected no load shedding through to March 2026 — but that outlook is conditional on unplanned outages staying below 13,000MW. The system remains sensitive.
A News24 investigation in mid-2025 traced a network of fake news websites to operators based in India publishing entirely fabricated load shedding schedules — including claims of 14-hour and 18-hour blackouts that never happened. These sites rank in search results and look convincing. Never rely on a site you haven’t verified before. Stick to loadshedding.eskom.co.za, your municipality’s official website, or EskomSePush.
Load shedding is currently suspended, and South Africa has clocked more than 300 consecutive days without a cut — but the grid remains sensitive and conditions can shift with little warning. Every South African student should have EskomSePush installed and configured for both their home suburb and their campus. Know whether your bill comes from Eskom directly or from a municipality, because that determines which schedule you follow. And ignore anything you can’t verify through loadshedding.eskom.co.za or your municipality’s official portal — fake schedules are everywhere.
Updated March 2026 · Sources: Eskom, SANews, ourpower.co.za, News24, EskomSePush Play Store
