All of the free-standing stoves (ranges) that I connected up in South Africa can be supplied with 3 phase and their live terminals are marked L1, L2, L3. A busbar connects all three and is wired to the single (40-50A) phase that I have only ever seen supplied in a RSA house. The 3 phase split is used purely to balance the load although a higher phase to phase voltage would be present within the stove in these circumstances.
Interestingly, the wiring method for a free-standing differs from Province to Province as in the old Transvaal (now Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Northern and parts of Northwest) a house had, by Regulation, to be sold or rented with a stove installed. In these areas, all stoves are hard-wired to flexible conduit sheathed cables that emerge near the floor, behind the stove and under the double-pole isolator switch. Elsewhere in the country, a house comes without a stove, and in Natal where I once lived, there was a special 40A - 230V socket in the stove space. This socket was a strange round, white metal beast that protruded from the wall and faced downwards at 45 degrees and was threaded on its outer ring. It accepted a similar plug with short stubby L,N,E pins and an outer captive ring that screwed onto the socket once the pins were inserted. This plug was connected to 6sq mm cables in flexible conduit which led to the stove.
This was my first serious wiring job as a stove was never sold in Natal with the necessary cable, conduit and plug!
