Friday, 13 December 2019

Stay energy-wise and be prepared for load-shedding
The City of Cape Town welcomes the undertaking from President Cyril Ramaphosa that no load-shedding will be experienced between 17 December 2019 and 13 January 2020.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this time, however please continue to save energy and make sure you are prepared for possible load-shedding.
Be prepared
• Print the City’s load-shedding schedule. Eskom-supplied customers should check Eskom’s website for the schedule.
• Switch off those appliances that you don’t need, but make sure to charge your cell phone, laptop, tablet and radio when power is available. Depending on the load-shedding stage, some cell phone networks may be affected.
• Switch off appliances before your area outage to reduce the risk of damage from power surges.
• If traffic lights are affected during load-shedding, treat them as four-way stops.
• Keep some cash on hand as ATM’s cannot operate without electricity.
• If you do not have a gas stove, prepare your meals before the power is scheduled to be switched off. Bring your food to boiling point and use a non-electric, portable slow cooker bag to continue cooking food and keep it warm. Boil water and keep in thermos flasks for hot drinks.
• Keep backup batteries for electrically operated gates, garage doors and security systems in good working condition – they will need to last through longer periods during the higher load-shedding stages. Store candles, battery-powered torches and gas lamps in easy to find places.
Remember:
• If your electricity remains off for longer than the period specified in the schedule, SMS the City’s technical operations center on 31220, submit a service request online or call 0860 103 089.
• Visit our website, Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest load-shedding status updates.
• Our call center experiences a higher volume of calls during load-shedding. Please be patient.
• All City libraries are closed during load-shedding.
Resources:
• City of Cape Town website for load-shedding updates
• Load-shedding Stages 1-8: Schedule and map
• Load shedding FAQs