Load shedding has become a fact of life in South Africa. Understanding how it works in Cape Town can help you plan better—whether you’re choosing a neighbourhood or just trying to keep your phone charged.
How Cape Town’s Load Shedding Works
The City of Cape Town manages its own electricity grid, separate from Eskom’s direct customers. The city divides its supply areas into 16 load shedding blocks (numbered 1–16), and each suburb falls into one of these blocks.
What Your Block Number Means
Your load shedding block determines when you’ll experience outages during each stage. The city publishes monthly schedules showing exactly which 2.5-hour slots your block will be off.
For example:
- Stage 1: Your block is shed once per day for 2.5 hours
- Stage 2: Your block is shed twice per day
- Stage 4: Your block is shed four times per day
- Stage 6: Your block is shed six times per day
Where to Find Your Schedule
Every suburb profile on StreetSignal shows:
- The load shedding block number
- Sample schedules for Stages 1, 2, and 4
- A link to the official City of Cape Town portal
Tips for Apartment Hunters
When viewing apartments, ask:
- Does the building have backup power (generator or inverter)?
- Are there working solar panels or battery storage?
- What floor is the unit on? (Higher floors = no lift during load shedding)
The Bigger Picture
Load shedding affects different areas differently. Industrial areas may have different schedules. Some critical infrastructure (hospitals, water pumping stations) has backup power.
Remember: load shedding schedules show the maximum outage duration. The City often restores power before the scheduled end time.
Check your suburb’s load shedding block on its neighbourhood profile.
Data sourced from the City of Cape Town. Schedules subject to change based on national grid conditions.