Eskom has officially suspended loadshedding from 06:00 on Sunday, citing the successful replenishment of emergency reserves.
Loadshedding suspended: What Eskom confirmed
The announcement comes after two days of Stage 3 power cuts, which began on Friday, 31 January.
However, the power utility did not provide any further clarity on whether loadshedding will be reinstated later in the week. Eskom also did not offer any updates on the status of its unit breakdowns, which triggered the recent outages.
In its brief statement, Eskom assured the public that it will continue to monitor the system and provide updates should any significant changes occur.
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This latest development comes just days after Eskom executives warned of ongoing risks to the power system. While the grid remains in better shape compared to previous years, the recent spike in unplanned breakdowns resulted in a temporary strain on energy reserves, forcing Eskom to introduce loadshedding over the weekend.
What’s the outlook for the week ahead?
While loadshedding has been halted for now, the lack of transparency on ongoing repairs means uncertainty remains over whether the grid can sustain electricity demand in the coming days.
Eskom previously confirmed that:
- Unplanned outages have increased to 13,313MW, though they have remained below critical levels for most of the past 10 months.
- A total of 3,410MW is expected to be returned to service by Monday, 3 February, which should ease grid pressure.
- Diesel usage has decreased significantly, with R16.3 billion saved over the past year due to lower reliance on Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs).
Despite these improvements, Eskom has not confirmed whether additional units will return online in time to stabilise supply throughout the week.
Last week, Eskom Group CEO Dan Marokane insisted that loadshedding remains a temporary setback rather than a full return to rolling blackouts.
However, with emergency reserves only just replenished, concerns remain that any further breakdowns could push the system back into crisis mode.
For now, South Africans will have to wait for further updates from Eskom, as the utility has not ruled out the possibility of resuming loadshedding at short notice.
