Permanent project revision

Holding Its Own Customers Below the National Load-Shedding Stage

Revision 2026-08-20-source-dates-2 · effective 2026-07-26

Current revision. This is the snapshot used by the live entity page.

unreviewed

Record publication (and where stated, revision) dates for this entry's sources.

sha256:c68d89bcbaf27213b209de1c71300f024aa84ba41a1621414b4c4e034b7b3f45

All revisions → Current entity page →

Change set

replace /snapshot/projectFingerprint — Updated projectFingerprint to the current sourced project record.
replace /snapshot/sources — Updated sources to the current sourced project record.

1: of 1 claims mapped
9: source dossiers
7: publication dates recorded
1: archives linked
0: exact locators
0: content captures hashed

Claims, one by one

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-8894b8478e746133 quantitative

about 547 premature deaths averted among City-supplied residents aged 65 and over, 2015-2019, 95% confidence interval 94 to 1,002

Published field: impact · verbatim
Mapping: mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says: The estimate comes from Joshua Budlender's stacked synthetic-control working paper UNU-WIDER 2024-44.
Caveat: The author stresses the estimate is imprecise, and the same study finds the protected areas hold 81% of the city's white residents against 27% of its black African residents.

Sources carrying this claim

UNU-WIDER: Surviving in the Dark (WP2024-44)

Source dossiers and revision state

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-20-source-dates-2 effective 2026-07-26 · created 2026-08-20

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:c68d89bcbaf27213b209de1c71300f024aa84ba41a1621414b4c4e034b7b3f45

Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →

1: of 1 claims mapped
9: source dossiers
7: publication dates recorded
1: archives linked
0: exact locators
0: content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator: City of Cape Town — Energy Directorate (Steenbras Hydro Pump Station)
Actor types: utility
Funding model: public
Funding description: City of Cape Town capital budget
Cost: ≈R1.2bn budgeted in 2023 for Steenbras: about R1bn refurbishment and expansion plus about R200m maintenance over nine years
Ownership: Not recorded
Decision rights: Not recorded
Exit conditions: Not recorded

9 source dossiers

UNU-WIDER: Surviving in the Dark (WP2024-44) wider.unu.edu · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-da8ca68a8bf269c3
Publisher: Name not classified · wider.unu.edu
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: Open archived copy ↗ · 2026-03-25
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Fetched. Joshua Budlender, July 2024. Abstract: 'the introduction of a unique load shedding reduction policy in parts of South Africa's second-largest city'. Confirms the policy statistically significantly reduces mortality and that 'the incomplete geographic coverage of the mitigation policy entrenches existing inequalities in the city'. The page states explicitly that this is a working paper, not peer-reviewed — hence evidence graded independent, not peer-reviewed.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: clm-8894b8478e746133

SALDRU, University of Cape Town (academic summary) saldru.uct.ac.za · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-a0875eea1ed0b7d3
Publisher: Name not classified · saldru.uct.ac.za
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2024-07-25
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Fetched. Author's home institution summarising the paper: synthetic control across the 2015, 2018 and 2019 mitigation episodes; Steenbras used to mitigate load shedding since June 2015 — the source for yearStart; 547 deaths averted, 95% CI 94-1,002; mitigation covered about 73% of the City's 65+ population; mortality data from the SA Medical Research Council, load-shedding data from the City and EskomSePush.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

UNU-WIDER blog: A tale of two cities wider.unu.edu · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-98f735e96f1cf8a8
Publisher: Name not classified · wider.unu.edu
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2023-05-25
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Fetched. Sole verified source for the 81% white / 27% black African split between protected and unprotected areas, and for the author's framing of it as a legacy of apartheid-era urban planning.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Daily Maverick, 30 June 2022 (press) dailymaverick.co.za · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-930139edd154e798
Publisher: Name not classified · dailymaverick.co.za
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2022-06-30
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Fetched. 180 MW, four turbines, City owns and operates it, only South African city to do so; Stage 4 held while Eskom ran Stage 6 in June 2022; 514 hours or 21 days of one-stage protection January to May 2022 (City figures); analyst Chris Yelland on fast hydro ramping and on why other municipalities cannot copy it.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Engineering News, 18 April 2023 (trade press) engineeringnews.co.za · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-7083a6479c9bc8e4
Publisher: Name not classified · engineeringnews.co.za
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2023-04-18
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Fetched. R1bn refurbishment plus R200m maintenance over nine years; Energy MMC Beverley van Reenen on protecting 'a stage or two, where possible' and the plan to reach four stages. Note the capacity discrepancy: this source and most City statements say 160 MW (available output), the plant record says 180 MW nameplate.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Daily Maverick / Bloomberg, 25 May 2023 (press) dailymaverick.co.za · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-bee826797942e1b0
Publisher: Name not classified · dailymaverick.co.za
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2023-05-25
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Fetched. The 70/30 City-Eskom supply split; protection of about two stages applies to City-supplied zones only; Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, 'We want to supply the entire city'; the takeover talks Eskom later declined.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Steenbras Power Station (plant record) en.wikipedia.org · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-647e5f0faf1bb6e8
Publisher: Name not classified · en.wikipedia.org
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Fetched. Used only for plant specification: 4 x 45 MW reversible turbines, 180 MW installed, commissioned 1979, owned and operated by the City of Cape Town Electricity Department. Low-authority source, cited only for specification, and its claim of being Africa's first pumped-storage scheme was NOT used — single weak citation.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Crown Publications, 21 May 2026 (trade press) crown.co.za · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-fdeac7b516cad688
Publisher: Name not classified · crown.co.za
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2026-05-21
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Fetched. Currency check: last national load-shedding 15 May 2025; at 00:01 on 16 May 2026 Eskom had gone one full year without it, the first since September 2018. Basis for status live but function dormant, outcome ongoing. Eskom's own milestone page returned HTTP 403 to automated fetching.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

City of Cape Town: How it works — City and Eskom electricity supply areas capetown.gov.za · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-4b3d0c53b3e3d2c6
Publisher: Name not classified · capetown.gov.za
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2022-11-01
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
FETCH FAILED — capetown.gov.za returned HTTP 502 to every automated request across three attempts, and its load-shedding FAQ PDF could not be parsed. Listed as the authoritative municipal statement of the supply split; every fact drawn from it here is instead carried by the independently fetched Bloomberg and UNU-WIDER sources.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Known limits of this passport

Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.