Cape Town’s loadshedding schedule for Tuesday, 29 August 2023, suggests residents will be protected from Stage 3 during crucial hours of the evening.
UPDATE 2: On Tuesday, 29 August 2023, Eskom upgraded the loadshedding schedule to a pattern of Stage 2 and Stage 4 “due to the loss of additional generation units over the past 24 hours.” See the updated loadshedding schedule below.
UPDATE: On Tuesday, 29 August 2023, Eskom upgraded daytime loadshedding to Stage 2 until 16:00 “due to the loss of three generation units last night.”
Cape Town loadshedding schedule for Tuesday, 29 August 2023
On Tuesday, 29 August 2023, Eskom upgraded daytime loadshedding to Stage 2 and evening outages to Stage 4, owing to “loss of additional generation units over the past 24 hours.”
The national electricity supplier confirmed the escalated loadshedding pattern will remain in place until further notice, albeit “Eskom will endeavour to reduce stages of loadshedding where possible.”
Barring no further updates from Megawatt Park, the City of Cape Town clients will be protected from Stage 3 loadshedding between 16:00 and 22:00.
“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 Tuesday, 29 August 2023:
| Time | Cape Town | Eskom |
| 00:00 – 05:00 | Stage 3* | Stage 3* |
| 05:00 – 16:00 | Stage 2* | Stage 2* |
| 16:00 – 22:00 | Stage 2* | Stage 4* |
| 22:00 – 05:00 | Stage 4* | Stage 4* |
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.