About 1.6 million Eskom customers have been removed from load reduction, but 102,551 remain affected. For those households and businesses, an improving national power system has not yet translated into an end to these local interruptions.

Eskom’s 6 November 2026 update puts the reduction in affected customers at approximately 94%, from a starting footprint of about 1.69 million. Seven provinces are now free of Eskom’s load reduction, with affected areas remaining in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Why power cuts can continue without load shedding

The distinction matters. In its explanation of the two measures, Eskom describes load shedding as a response to insufficient national generation capacity. Load reduction instead protects overloaded local infrastructure, including transformers, even when enough electricity is available nationally.

That means a reassuring national supply update cannot, on its own, tell a resident whether their street faces an interruption. A damaged transformer or another local fault can also interrupt supply independently of either measure.

Eskom says its programme includes smart meters, distributed energy resources and support through Free Basic Electricity. It is targeting the elimination of load reduction by March 2027. That is a programme target, not a confirmed restoration date for every remaining customer.

What households and small businesses can do

For households leaving load reduction, fewer scheduled interruptions can make cooking, homework and charging easier to organise. For shops, salons and other small businesses, the potential benefit is more predictable working time, with less need to plan payment processing or essential equipment around these cuts.

Before changing arrangements, check the status of your own supply area with the electricity provider. A provincial milestone should not replace confirmation for a particular address.

  • Check the cause. Establish whether an interruption is scheduled load reduction, maintenance or an unplanned fault.
  • Use current local information. Follow your supplier’s latest notices rather than an old schedule or a national headline.
  • Keep a proportionate backup plan. Review essential lighting, communications and business equipment needs against your actual recent outage experience.

Progress, with limits

The figures are Eskom’s reported programme results, not an independent assessment of every neighbourhood’s reliability. Leaving load reduction does not guarantee uninterrupted electricity. Residents can use Eskom’s customer-service channels, or their municipal supplier where applicable, to check local information and report faults.

Related reading: what electricity generation and distribution figures can tell businesses.

AI-assisted reporting, checked against the linked Eskom sources on 7 November 2026. Household and business implications are SBL analysis.

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