Load shedding stages: Here's how it affects you Updated Newswatch Share this: South Africans are in for a rough ride until at least Sunday due to constant rolling blackouts. Woman reading book with candles/ iStock Eskom says there'll be further load shedding until at least the start of next week, but due to unexpected breakdowns at the utility’s various power stations, it's unsure which stages will be implemented. The powersupplier initiated Stage 3 load shedding for Thursday, which will end at 10pm. At this stage, it says Stage 2 load shedding will kick in after that. The utility has explained to Newswatch how the power cut stages work.