Emergency & Outage Phone Numbers

National numbers

Outage safety

• ⚠️
  Downed lines

  Stay at least 10 metres away from fallen wires and anything touching them. Call 112 from a cell phone, then Eskom or your municipality.

• 🏠
  Generators outside only

  Run generators 6+ metres from doors and windows – never in a garage. Carbon monoxide is invisible and deadly. Keep petrol and diesel in approved containers away from the house.

• 🔔
  CO alarms

  Keep battery-powered carbon monoxide alarms on every floor. If one sounds, get outside and call 112.

• ❄️
  Food safety

  Keep fridge and freezer closed: food stays cold about 4 hours in the fridge and up to 48 hours in a full freezer. Freeze water bottles to keep the fridge cold during load-shedding.

• 🔌
  Unplug electronics

  Unplug appliances and use surge protection – power surges when supply returns, especially after load-shedding, damage fridges, TVs and routers. Leave one light on so you know.

• 🌡️
  Heat & cold

  Contact your municipality or provincial disaster management centre for help. Never heat your home with a braai, gas stove, oven or paraffin heater in a closed room.

• 💊
  Medical devices

  If you rely on powered medical equipment, tell Eskom or your municipality, and have a backup plan such as an inverter or battery. Ask your doctor about backup for oxygen concentrators and similar devices.

• 🚦
  Traffic lights (robots) out

  Treat an intersection with dark traffic lights as a four-way stop. Drive slowly during load-shedding.

More: Eskom load-shedding · NERSA

Numbers by province