Frequently Asked Questions

Power Outage SA is an independent, community-driven power outage tracker for South Africa. People report outages and restorations for their postal code, and everyone can see live status, recent reports and outage history, plus their electricity provider's outage number, the current load-shedding stage and local emergency numbers.

Type your 4-digit postal code or suburb in the search box, or tap the location button. The postal code page shows the current status, a confidence score, every report from the last 24 hours and your electricity provider's outage line. Remember to check the load-shedding schedule too, as many outages are scheduled.

First check your distribution board (trip switch) and whether your area is on the load-shedding schedule. Then report the outage to your electricity provider – Eskom or your municipality (the number is on your postal code page and your bill) – as they restore power based on customer reports. Also tap “Power is out” on your postal code page so neighbours know, and “Power is back” when it returns.

Call 112 from a cell phone (or 10111 for police) and then your electricity provider. Stay at least 10 metres away and assume every downed line is live – never touch it or anything it is touching, including water or a car.

No. Reporting is anonymous. We do not ask for your name, phone number or street address. See the Privacy Policy for details.

The status reflects what people have reported recently. Reports from more people on different networks, and more recent reports, give a higher confidence score. Reports can be incomplete or wrong, so treat them as signals, not official Eskom or municipal data.

If nobody reports “Power is back” and there are no new outage reports for 24 hours, the outage is closed automatically. A new outage report reopens it straight away.

No. It only means no one has reported recently. Coverage depends on people in your area using the service.

No. Power Outage SA is not affiliated with Eskom, any municipality or any government agency. For outage reports, restoration times and safety issues, contact your electricity provider directly.

Open your postal code page: it lists the electricity providers (Eskom and/or the local municipality) that serve that area, with their outage numbers. If you are unsure, check the name on your electricity bill or prepaid meter vendor.

Load-shedding is scheduled, rotational power cutting (stages 1 to 8) used by Eskom and municipalities when demand exceeds supply. An unscheduled outage can be caused by a fault, substation overload, cable theft or storms. Check the load-shedding page and your schedule first, then report the outage if power is out outside your slot.

112 from a cell phone for any emergency; 10111 for police; 10177 for an ambulance. See the Emergency numbers page for your province's disaster management contacts and your electricity provider's outage line.

Only outdoors, at least 6 metres from doors, windows and vents, and never in a garage, even with the door open. Install battery-powered carbon monoxide alarms. Never plug a generator or inverter into a wall outlet or the DB board without an approved changeover switch (backfeeding) – it can kill electricity workers.

They give estimates based on average residential rates. Your actual bill depends on your provider's tariff, time-of-use pricing, fixed and network charges and VAT.

To keep the data clean, each device can report the same postal code once every few minutes.

Use the contact form (link in the footer) for questions, bug reports, corrections to a phone number, or partnership enquiries.