Eskom has issued a warning that loadshedding could return soon, as the national power system continues to operate under pressure.
Eskom admits loadshedding is very likely to return
The electricity provider made the announcement in its latest Power Alert on Friday, 6 June 2025, stating that while the system is currently stable, it remains strained.
Loadshedding is when Eskom switches off electricity in certain areas at different times to prevent the whole grid from failing.
This is usually done when there is not enough electricity to meet the demand from households, businesses, and other users. Eskom only does this as a last resort to avoid a complete nationwide blackout.
In the alert, Eskom explained that the power system is holding up for now, but only because emergency reserves—like diesel-powered generators—are being used during peak hours in the morning and evening.
These reserves are meant to help cover the shortfall temporarily, but they are not a permanent solution.
“The power system remains stable and continues to demonstrate resilience,” the statement said.
However, Eskom also admitted that “system constraints are occasionally experienced,” which means the supply is sometimes not enough to match demand, especially as cold weather increases electricity use for heating.
According to Eskom’s Winter Outlook report, loadshedding will not be necessary if unplanned breakdowns stay under 13 000 megawatts (MW).
But if these breakdowns rise to 15 000MW, Eskom would have to implement loadshedding for as many as 21 days between now and the end of August.
The worst-case scenario would be Stage 2, which means electricity could be off for up to four hours at a time, twice a day, depending on the schedule.
Unplanned outages—when parts of the system break down unexpectedly—have already reached 13 855MW.
That is 855MW above the safety limit Eskom set to avoid loadshedding. One of the contributing factors is the delay in bringing Medupi Unit 4 back online, which has been undergoing repairs for several years.
Meanwhile, the Energy Availability Factor (EAF)—a figure showing how much of Eskom’s equipment is working—has been hovering between 61% and 64% this month. This means that a large portion of the power plants are either broken or under maintenance.
To help reduce pressure on the grid, Eskom is urging residents not to use illegal connections and to report any energy theft.
“Illegal connections often cause transformer failures and can result in longer outages,” Eskom said.
The company also encouraged households to buy electricity only from approved vendors and to check if they qualify for free basic electricity through their municipalities.
