• Stage 4 loadshedding is underway “until further notice.”
• South Africa was given no warning and only informed 13 minutes after loadshedding’s implementation.
• Eskom’s data portal provides no further insight as the data accessible at time of writing is outdated.

We understand that loadshedding is implemented to prevent a total collapse of Eskom’s infrastructure but we feel as if South Africans should at the very least be given warning that loadshedding will be implemented.

On Tuesday morning it took the utility 13 minutes to announce that it had implemented Stage 4 loadshedding “until further notice.” The kicker is that these power cuts were started at 05:30 with the first announcement appearing on Twitter at 05:43. For South Africans who only use Facebook, that alert was posted at 05:45.

Stage 4 loadshedding was implemented at 05:30 due to breakdowns of five generators at five power stations overnight. The loadshedding will be implemented until further notice.

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) October 18, 2022

Stage 4 loadshedding is in place owing to the fact that five generators at five power stations broke down overnight. Unfortunately, that’s all the information we have access to. While Eskom does have a data portal over on its website, data for outages was last updated on 15th October.

On Sunday Eskom said that 15 612MW of capacity was unavailable due to breakdowns and as such Stage 2 loadshedding would be implemented from 16:00 to 00:00 Monday to Wednesday. Of course, the situation has clearly worsened and South Africans will now need to navigate Stage 4 loadshedding.

As always we urge you to download EskomSePush for Android and iOS devices to plan your week ahead accordingly.

[Image – Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash]