Eskom’s Gauteng load reduction: Here’s when power goes off in your area for the rest of March

2026-03-24 - 07:30

South Africa may be celebrating almost a year without load shedding, but for many Gauteng residents, power cuts remain part of daily life. As of Tuesday, load shedding remains suspended after the country reached approximately 312 consecutive days without it. However, Eskom’s load reduction programme, a separate infrastructure-driven intervention, continues to roll through dozens of communities across the province on a rotating basis. “Load shedding remained suspended after South Africa reached 300 consecutive days without load shedding at midnight on 12 March 2026,” Eskom said. The power utility was quick to draw the distinction between the two. Unlike load shedding, which is a national demand-management measure triggered by insufficient generation capacity, load reduction targets specific communities where illegal connections and ageing infrastructure place localised networks under sustained pressure. “The load reduction outages follow a rotating schedule that varies by area,” Eskom said. The utility noted that some areas will face outages of up to four hours, while others could experience interruptions of up to five hours. ALSO READ: Eskom to slap customers with tariff hike: This is how much you more you will be paying Morning load reduction Eskom’s latest schedule shows that several regions across Gauteng will be without power during the early morning window throughout the week, coinciding with the school run and morning commute. Among the areas facing morning cuts are Orange Farm and its extensions, Monise, Mokoena, Mavimbela and Zuma, Ramakonopi and Ramakonopi East, Radebe and Sali Mngadi, Moseleke, Ndhlazi, Cala and Hlongwane, as well as Mfundo Park Extension 30B. Other communities in the morning slot include Mapetla, Protea South, Chiawelo, Moroka, Dhlamini, Klipspruit, Kagiso, Khutsong, Tsakane Extensions 1, 3, 8, 11 and 12, and Langaville Extension 3. Garankuwa extensions, Ivory Park extensions, Protea Glen, Rabie Ridge and Duduza round out the morning-affected areas. Evening load reduction The evening window, falling squarely during dinner preparation and homework hours, carries an equally broad footprint. According to Eskom’s schedule, areas facing power interruptions in the 5pm to 10pm slot include City of Johannesburg Rural Lakeside, Orange Farm extensions, Stretford extensions, Sharpeville and Sharpeville Outlying, Tshepiso, Elandsfontein AH, Homestead Apple Orchards AH-West and Ironside AH-West, as well as Vereeniging. Further areas on the evening schedule include Drumblade, Klipview, Sebokeng, Vosloorus, Evaton Central, Small Farms and Balmoral Estates. Additional areas affected this week Beyond the two main daily windows, Eskom’s schedule also confirms that the following areas will be affected by load reduction during the 24 to 31 March period: Mofolo South, Tsakane, Zithobeni extensions, Magagula Heights, Spruit View, Mngadi, Chiawelo, Langaville, Diepkloof Zones 1 to 6, Winterveldt extensions and Orlando East. To see if your area is affected, click on or download the document below: Load-reduction-GAUTENG-MARCH-2026Download Please note: There’s been an error in dating these days. Read as Tuesday and Wednesday. Please note: There’s been an error in dating these days. Read as Thursday and Friday. READ NEXT: Eskom loses SCA court battle over secret coal contracts