The national load-shedding stage right now, your area's published cut times from Eskom, and the separate load-reduction hours that run whatever the stage.
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From Town Tools. For the current version, visit https://www.towntools.org/soweto-gauteng-za/power-cuts
Load reduction still runs 05:00 to 09:00, 17:00 to 22:00, whatever the stage.
Right now
No national load shedding.
This is the national stage only, and it is not the whole story here — read the next section.
Read .
Load reduction is not load shedding
Eskom cuts overloaded local networks at fixed hours to stop the equipment failing, whether or not the country is load shedding. The stage above does not predict it, and “no load shedding” is not a promise that your power will stay on. Eskom says it runs load reduction 05:00 to 09:00, 17:00 to 22:00.
Your area’s load-shedding times
Soweto is billed directly by Eskom, so Eskom's own schedule is the one that applies here — not City Power's. Two different things switch the power off. Load shedding is national: Eskom publishes one stage for the whole country, and when a stage is declared each area is cut on a rota. Load reduction is local: Eskom cuts overloaded township feeders at fixed hours to stop transformers failing, and it runs whether or not the country is load shedding.
The area list is Eskom's own, with Eskom's own spellings, so you can check the same name on Eskom's page. Picking an area asks Eskom directly — nothing about your area is stored here. Some areas are in Eskom's list with no times against them; picking one of those says so plainly rather than leaving you guessing.
More about load reduction
Eskom cuts specific overloaded feeders in high-density areas so mini-substations and transformers do not fail and take the neighbourhood out for days. Eskom says it is applied where illegal connections and electricity theft have pushed a local network past what its equipment can carry, and that five of the nine provinces are now clear of it — only Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are still on the programme. Soweto is in Gauteng.
Eskom’s stated load-reduction hours
05:00 to 09:00, 17:00 to 22:00
Eskom publishes which block is cut on which day as a monthly file. Blocks rotate, so the day matters:
Eskom's Gauteng load-reduction schedule (spreadsheet)The most recent file we found covers August 2026, which has passed. Eskom publishes the next one on the same page — open the link above to see whether it is there yet.
Areas here that the schedule names
Copied from Eskom’s own file. Areas move between blocks between months, and some appear in more than one block, so this says your area is on the programme — not which hours you get.
Diepkloof, and Diepkloof Zones 1, 2 and 6
Orlando East
Soweto Nomzamo
Dube and Dube Ext 1
Mofolo East, West and South
Meadowlands Zones 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8; Meadowlands West Zones 9 and 10; Meadowlands East Zones 3 and 4
Jabavu Ext 1, 2 and 3 West
Slovoville Ext 1
Chiawelo
Dobsonville, and Dobsonville Ext 5 and 7
Naledi
Jabulani, Moletsane and Tladi
Emdeni and Emdeni Ext 2
Zola
Moroka, Dhlamini and Klipspruit
Mapetla, Protea South and Protea North
Protea Glen (Ext 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 14) and Protea Glen Outlying
Protea South Outlying and Protea City
Names that are not in Eskom’s area list
Eskom’s list has no entry under these names, so they are not in the picker above. This is what it carries near each one.
Kliptown — Eskom's area list has no row under this name at all. The nearest names it carries are the Klipspruit rows, which are in the list above.
Mzimhlophe — Eskom's area list has no row under this name. The nearest names it carries are Orlando East and the Meadowlands zones.
White City (Jabavu) — Eskom's area list has no row under this name. The Jabavu rows are the nearest ones it does carry.
Phefeni — Eskom's area list has no row under this name. It sits inside Orlando West, which is in the list above.
Rockville — Eskom's area list has no row under this name. Moroka North and the Mofolo rows are the nearest ones it carries.
If your power is off and it is not on any schedule
If your power is off outside the load-reduction hours and there is no load shedding, report it as a fault — a cut nobody planned will not clear on its own. The same number works on WhatsApp: Eskom says to save 08600 37566 to your phone and message its assistant there, which gives you a reference number without holding on the line. Have your account or meter number, your pole number and your address ready.