Ramokgopa applauds Eskom for 300 days of uninterrupted power supply while load reduction continues

While South Africa celebrates a milestone in power supply stability, it’s clear Eskom is still experiencing challenges such as illegal connections and infrastructure strain.

Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa posted a video on X celebrating South Africa's 300 days of uninterrupted power supply.

“As today [Wednesday] marks 300 days of no load-shedding, we express gratitude to the men and women for the collaborative effort in addressing the country’s electricity challenges,” said Ramokgopa.

“We congratulate Eskom on 300 days of uninterrupted power supply.”

Ramokgopa emphasised the importance of the achievement, calling it a “significant milestone”.

“This is a big milestone for the country. We will continue to do our best and ensure load-shedding is behind us,” he said. 

In the same video, Eskom group CEO Dan Marokane also celebrated the achievement, recognising the efforts of the Eskom team.

“To the guardians back there, great milestone, 300 days. Let’s march on to 365. Fantastic performance to date and thank you very much. Enjoy the moment,” Marokane said, urging the team to continue their hard work.

While the country celebrates this achievement, Eskom has issued a reminder that load reduction, not load-shedding, is still being implemented in certain areas.

According to the utility, while load-shedding remains suspended, load reduction is necessary to protect infrastructure in areas facing high levels of electricity theft and illegal connections.

“While load-shedding remains suspended, Eskom implements load reduction from 5am to 9am and 5pm to 10pm. The continued pressure on our transformers/mini-substations due to illegal connections and electricity theft in some areas necessitates load reduction to avoid equipment damage,” Eskom said on its website.

Eskom group executive for distribution Monde Bala also highlighted the importance of these measures.

“Overloaded transformers as a result of electricity theft present a serious risk to human life. We only implement load reduction as a last resort for the shortest periods possible after all other options have been exhausted.”

Eskom clarified the distinction between load reduction and load-shedding.

“Load reduction is a long-established process Eskom uses in specific areas when there is sufficient electricity available but a transformer’s integrity is at risk due to overloading, whereas load-shedding is used when the national grid is constrained and there is not sufficient capacity to generate electricity to meet demand.”

Load reduction is a protective measure aimed at preventing damage to equipment and threats to human life.

“In areas where load reduction will be implemented, the relevant cluster or province will communicate with affected customers through the normal channels, including SMS and customer connect newsletters,” Eskom said.

The load reduction schedule can be accessed on the Eskom website, where customers can check the specific times when it will occur.

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