Eskom started load reduction couple of years ago in an effort to maintain electrical infrastructure and the safety of both Eskom staff and its customers. Load reduction is only implemented when a local network is overloaded, to prevent equipment failure and to protect the neighbourhood from extended outages. To, date five provinces are free of load reduction with only Gauteng, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and KZN remaining.

Eskom implements load reduction from 05:00 – 09:00 and 17:00 – 22:00. 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.