Eskom says 102,551 customers remain affected by load reduction, after about 1.59 million customers were removed from the programme.
In its 6 November update, the utility said seven provinces were free of the targeted cuts. It aims to eliminate load reduction by March 2027.
Eskom describes these local restrictions as a measure to protect overloaded infrastructure in areas affected by illegal connections and meter tampering. They are distinct from national loadshedding.
The utility reported an energy availability factor of 68.16% for 1 April to 5 November, compared with 63.21% in the equivalent period last year. However, availability for the latest week, 30 October to 5 November, slipped to 69.53% from 70.66% a year earlier.
Financial year-to-date diesel spending was R1.26 billion, down R4.81 billion on the comparable period, Eskom said.
The figures reflect Eskom’s assessment of its system and customer programme, rather than a guarantee that individual households will avoid local power interruptions.
File photograph: a Tutuka–Beta transmission-line pylon in the Free State on 15 December 2006. Photo: NJR ZA / Wikimedia Commons. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Africa-Electricity_distribution-001.jpg . Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ . Cropped and resized for display; adaptations retain CC BY-SA 3.0. This contextual archive image does not identify a specific distribution feeder affected by load reduction.
