Eskom release load shedding schedules

Eskom released its load shedding schedules for the three northern provinces of South Africa, namely Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.

According to the Limpopo schedule, load shedding in Louis Trichardt will take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 14:00 until 16:30. As for the areas surrounding Louis Trichardt, load shedding is scheduled to take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 18:00 until 20:30. These areas include, amongst others, Alldays, Dendron, Mopani, Madimbo, Twilite, Vera, Beit Bridge, Giyani, Malamulele, Sibasa, Thohoyandou, Shayandima, Phaswana, Dzimauli, Tshikondeni, Masisi and Elim/Waterval. Musina town itself will also fall victim to load shedding on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but from 08:00 until 10:30.

Over the last couple of months, Eskom has received severe criticism for not keeping to their own load shedding schedules. Many residents are of the opinion that it remains to be seen whether or not Eskom will keep to the planned times. It must, however, be said that load shedding did take place in Louis Trichardt last week on the planned dates and within the time period.

According to Eskom, electricity shortages and load shedding will be part of life in South Africa for the next couple of years. Their immediate focus is a reduction in the demand for electricity with their long-term plan to change South African’s electricity usage habits.

"Residential customers are the biggest users of electricity during peak times (07:00 until 10:00 and 18:00 until 21:00). This is primarily due to cooking, heating water, space cooling or heating and lighting. At times when power reserves are stretched, the actions of each and every customer to reduce the strain on the grid will make a significant difference," says Eskom in a statement accompanying the load shedding schedule. Eskom urges customers to use electricity sparingly during these times and to switch off non-essential appliances and lights.

For more information on how to save electricity, visit www.eskomdsm.co.za See also the Eskom pamphlets in this week’s edition of the Zoutpansberger.

News - Date: 11 April 2008

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

Email: [email protected]