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Government and state-owned power utility Eskom are embarking on what they describe as an aggressive roll-out of infrastructure to end the “load reduction” of electricity within the next 12-18 months. “We will end load reduction in 12 months if there is absolute cooperation by communities… [but] there are parts where will get resistance,” energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa told reporters at a media briefing on Thursday. He said there would be “agitation” by those benefiting from illegal connections and vandalism. Some 1.69 million people on Eskom’s direct database alone are impacted by load reduction A total of 1.69 million people on Eskom’s direct database alone are impacted by load reduction. The minister said he would update the figure once he had a breakdown from municipal power utilities like Johannesburg’s City Power. Load reduction is a localised strategy used to decrease electricity demand in specific areas with overloaded networks and high consumption, often caused by illegal connections. It typically occurs in the mornings and evenings – periods of high demand that place strain on infrastructure. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media This is a developing story Get breaking news from TechCentral on WhatsApp. Sign up here . Don’t miss: Eskom unplanned outages hit eight-year low
