On Thursday, 5 October 2023, City of Cape Town clients will be afforded lower stages of loadshedding throughout the day.
Cape Town loadshedding schedule for Thursday, 5 October 2023
On Monday, 2 October 2023, Eskom extended the temporary suspension of loadshedding to occur during daytime periods between 05:00 and 16:00 until Wednesday, 4 October 2023.
In the evenings, rotational outages will resume with Stage 2 loadshedding. This improved pattern, the power utility explained, was due to lower breakdowns and increased generation capacity spurred by the return of Kusile Unit 3 to service.
Therefore, barring no unplanned breakdowns, clients connected to the City of Cape Town’s power grid could avoid loadshedding altogether until 22:00, while the rest of the country lurches in Stage 2 from 16:00 until 05:00 the next day
“We are doing all we can to protect you where possible, but non-stop load-shedding at high stages impacts our ability to protect,” the City wrote.
Here’s a look at the Cape Town loadshedding schedule for Thursday, 5 October 2023:
| Time | Cape Town | Eskom |
| 00:00 – 05:00 | Stage 2* | Stage 2* |
| 05:00 – 16:00 | Suspended* | Suspended* |
| 16:00 – 22:00 | Suspended* | Stage 2* |
| 22:00 – 000:00 | Stage 2* | Stage 2* |
How to check your loadshedding schedule
In Cape Town, loadshedding is implemented rotationally in zones split between 23 areas.
Areas 1 – 16 follow the City of Cape Town’s loadshedding schedule, while Areas 17 – 23 adhere to Eskom’s national outage timetable.
To check the latest outage status, refer to the schedule for the loadshedding stage announced; dates indicated along the top (left to right), with the corresponding affected areas for that day and time slots (from top to bottom).
Here’s how City of Cape Town lowers loadshedding stages
The City of Cape Town has its Steenbras Pumped Storage Plant to thank for the delayed implementation of increased power cuts. The hydro-electric pumped power station is the first of its kind in Africa and in 2019, it was refurbished to provide auxiliary support when needed most.
Currently, the City of Cape Town is the only metro able to provide a semblance of relief to households impacted by loadshedding. Using the hydroelectric pumped power plant, residents connected to the City’s grid experience a lower stage of loadshedding, where possible.
Here’s how the Steenbras Pumped Storage plant works:
- Electricity generated during off-peak periods pumps water to an upper storage reservoir
- The down-flowing water is then used to power a generator
- Small hydro-generators like the one at Steenbras Dam mean that the City can sometimes avoid loadshedding or stay at a lower stage.