Why South Africa has not had load shedding since May 2025
**South Africa passed 497 consecutive days without load shedding on 25 September 2026, the last cuts having ended on 16 May 2025. Eskom attributes the run to a recovered generation fleet, with unplanned outages down from 9 633 MW to 7 622 MW year on year.**
The country has now gone more than sixteen months without a national power cut ÔÇö the longest uninterrupted run since load shedding became a routine feature of South African life.
Eskom confirmed the figure in its weekly power system statement of 25 September 2026.
The numbers behind the run
The measure that matters is the energy availability factor, or EAF: the share of Eskom's generating capacity actually available to produce electricity.
- 70.44% ÔÇö weekly EAF for 18 to 24 September 2026
- 68.06% ÔÇö financial year-to-date EAF, described by Eskom as its highest in six years
- 7 622 MW ÔÇö unplanned outages, down from 9 633 MW a year earlier
Roughly 2 000 MW of capacity that was breaking down unpredictably a year ago is now running. That is the difference between a grid with a margin and a grid without one.
A winter without cuts
The 2026 winter period, from 1 April to 31 August, passed with no load shedding at all and an EAF of 67.79% ÔÇö the highest since 2020. Eskom's winter outlook, published in April, had predicted exactly that, forecasting no cuts even under a stress scenario of 14 GW of unplanned outages.
Winter is the test. Demand peaks, maintenance windows narrow, and every previous recovery claim has come apart somewhere between June and August. This one did not.
Load reduction is a different thing
Load shedding and load reduction are often confused. Load shedding is national and protects the grid from collapse. Load reduction is local, applied in specific areas where illegal connections and overloading threaten to destroy transformers and cables.
Eskom's Load Reduction Eradication Programme has restored supply to about 1.2 million customers, and seven provinces have come off the load reduction schedule entirely. Households still affected are experiencing something narrower than load shedding, even though the practical result is the same.
What has not changed
The stage framework remains in place and the schedules still exist. Eskom has not declared load shedding over, and its statements continue to say it will communicate significant developments as they occur.
The generation fleet is older than it should be, and a run of good months is not the same as structural surplus. The reasonable reading is that the margin has improved substantially, not that the risk has gone.
Frequently asked questions
When was the last load shedding in South Africa?
The last cuts ended on 16 May 2025. As at 25 September 2026 the country had gone 497 consecutive days without load shedding.
Is load shedding over for good?
Eskom has not said so. It reports weekly on system performance and has kept the stage framework and schedules in place.
What is the energy availability factor?
The share of Eskom's generating capacity actually available to generate. It stood at 70.44% for the week of 18 to 24 September 2026.
