What South Africa's load shedding stages actually mean
**Eskom's consumer material explains load shedding in eight stages, each removing about 1 000 MW from the grid. The NERSA-approved technical standard goes further, to stage 16, and defines each stage as roughly 5% of demand rather than a fixed megawatt figure.**
Load shedding stages are a measure of how much electricity has to be taken off the national grid to stop it collapsing. The higher the stage, the more power Eskom must shed, and the more often your area goes dark.
There are two official answers to the question of how many stages exist, and they do not match.
The eight-stage version
Eskom's own public schedule material still explains the system in eight stages, each one removing roughly 1 000 MW of demand:
- Stage 1 ÔÇö up to 1 000 MW shed
- Stage 2 ÔÇö up to 2 000 MW
- Stage 4 ÔÇö up to 4 000 MW
- Stage 8 ÔÇö up to 8 000 MW
At stages 1 to 4, most municipalities cut power in two-hour blocks, with about 30 minutes of switching time on either side. Johannesburg uses four-hour blocks. As the stage climbs, the same area is cut more times per day rather than for longer each time.
The sixteen-stage version
The technical standard that actually governs load shedding, NRS 048-9 Edition 3, was approved by the National Energy Regulator in 2024. It extends the scale to stage 16 and changes the unit of measurement: each stage represents about 5% of demand rather than a fixed 1 000 MW.
Under that standard the grid is divided into 16 blocks of 6.25% each. Stage 8 works out to roughly 16 hours without power over a day, and stage 16 to around 32 hours ÔÇö effectively a continuous outage.
The two definitions coexist because the standard changed and the consumer-facing explanation did not. Both are official. In practice South Africa has never been past stage 6.
Where the official stage is announced
Eskom publishes stage changes through the MyEskom Customer App, the loadshedding.eskom.co.za portal, and its own website. Its contact centre is 086 00 37566, and it issues a power system statement every Friday.
Third-party apps are widely used and often faster, but they read from Eskom's published data rather than replacing it. When an app and Eskom disagree, Eskom's portal is the record.
Why your neighbour is on a different schedule
Load shedding is implemented by your local distributor, not by Eskom directly. If your electricity comes from a municipality such as City Power or eThekwini, that municipality decides which blocks are cut and when, within the total it has been told to shed. Two houses a few streets apart can sit in different blocks and lose power at different times on the same stage.
Frequently asked questions
How many load shedding stages are there?
Eskom's consumer material describes eight. The NERSA-approved NRS 048-9 Edition 3 standard extends the scale to 16.
How much power does each stage cut?
About 1 000 MW per stage under the older eight-stage explanation, or about 5% of demand per stage under the current technical standard.
Where does Eskom announce the stage?
On loadshedding.eskom.co.za, through the MyEskom Customer App, and in its weekly Friday power system statement.
