At the stroke of midnight on Saturday 16 May, South Africa crossed a threshold eight years in the making – 365 consecutive days without a single second of load shedding.

For millions of households and businesses long accustomed to scheduled blackouts, the milestone signals more than a operational achievement. It marks what Eskom is calling a structural shift from a recovering grid to a stable, high-performing power system.

The last time South Africa went a full year without loadshedding was September 2018. Since then, rolling blackouts became a defining feature of daily life, costing the economy billions and battering public trust in the state-owned utility.

Three-year turnaround

The recovery traces back to March 2023, when Eskom launched its Generation Operational Recovery Plan. Since then, key performance metrics have improved dramatically.

The Energy Availability Factor – a measure of how much of the grid’s capacity is operational – climbed from 54,56% to 65,6%. Unplanned outages or breakdowns dropped from 32,34% to 22,88%.

Perhaps the most striking figure is the collapse in emergency diesel spending, from approximately R33,3 billion to R6,4 billion – a saving of R26,9 billion, or roughly 81%.

“This moment has been three years in the making,” said Eskom board chairman Mteto Nyati. “Eskom’s employees have again delivered using their deep technical and institutional capability built over decades of public investment.”

Eskom’s group chief Executive Dan Marokane pointed to the broader significance of the milestone for South Africa’s energy future. “No energy market liberalisation in the world has been successful without a stable incumbent,” he said, positioning Eskom as a platform for the country’s R2,23 trillion Integrated Resource Plan – a sweeping investment roadmap for new energy generation.

Bheki Nxumalo, group executive for Generation, struck a more personal note. “Morale is at an all-time high. The belief in ourselves and our pride has returned.”

Ripple effects

The stable power supply has had measurable knock-on effects. Eskom has been able to support energy-intensive industries under strain, including the ferrochrome sector, helping prevent job losses. More consistent baseload generation has also made it easier to integrate renewable energy into the grid during peak demand periods.

Financially, the power utility recorded a 2,1% year-on-year improvement in pre-tax profit and a 1,6% rise in EBITDA for the 2026 financial year. Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s upgraded Eskom’s rating for the first time in over a decade.

However, reactions to Eskom’s announcement of 365 days without load shedding on its Facebook page was met with mixed reactions from followers, some questioning the reasons behind less power outages countrywide.

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Still in the dark

Some users pointed out that while load shedding may be a thing of the past, their communities have been hit with load reduction. Others alluded to the fact that some citizens have installed solar panels to counter bouts of load shedding.

“Eskom’s surplus electricity has nothing to do with Eskom and everything to do with so many people having installed solar. Nothing like getting cheap and reliable energy from the sun,” one person commented.

Another wrote: “365 days, yet there’s still unfair load reduction happening in Chiawelo. Are you guys being for rea ? What exactly is happening with the electricity? Why are the lights going on and off? Are you guys even aware that you damaging the appliances and so forth?”

Another user pointed out that their community had been without electricity for 13 days: “Dear Eskom. Today marks day 13 without electricity in Harkerville. What is the plan? Surely it can’t take this long. The ground team hasn’t done anything in the area to get electricity back. This is surely human torture. How can anyone expect to live like this?”

What comes next?

Eskom says it will use this stability as a platform to begin transitioning away from ageing coal-fired stations, with decisions on phased shutdowns expected between July and September.

It also pointed out that load reduction – distinct from loadshedding – is also being tackled.

Over 500 000 households now receive uninterrupted supply, with the Northern Cape and Western Cape fully eradicating the practice.

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