As Gauteng residents get ready for a chilly week ahead, they can expect localised flooding, road closures, and icy conditions. On top of that, they must also brace themselves for load reduction in several areas across the province.

Despite load shedding being suspended, scheduled load reduction remains a concern for many Eskom customers.

As Eskom continues its load reduction programme, running from Monday to Sunday, consumers can expect approximately eight hours of outages with varying time slots for different regions.

While City Power has indefinitely suspended its load reduction service, according to the company’s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, this suspension is not permanent.

Mangena recently warned that load reduction measures could be reinstated if certain conditions arise, such as “a significant surge in electricity consumption, illegal connections, or meter tampering”.

This means that although City Power customers are currently enjoying a break from load reduction, the utility maintains the right to reimplement these measures if necessary to manage electricity demand.

In contrast, Eskom continues to enforce its load reduction programme in areas where it supplies electricity directly.

Eskom Gauteng spokesperson Amanda Qithi previously confirmed this to The Citizen.

Eskom’s load reduction schedule operates from Monday to Sunday, with varying time slots for different regions.

The power utility has indicated it would alert residents of any changes to the schedule, including any suspension of the programme.

According to the current schedule, several areas across multiple blocks will experience load reductions throughout the week, affecting thousands of residents in Gauteng.

While load shedding may be suspended, residents in these areas should still prepare for potential power outages as both maintenance work and load reduction measures continue across Gauteng.

READ NEXT: Eskom winter outlook: Here’s how many days of load shedding to expect in SA