Eskom's Hadebe resigns for health reasons

Phakamani Hadebe

"It is no secret that this role comes with unimaginable demands which have unfortunately had a negative impact on my health. In the best interests of Eskom and my family, I have therefore decided to step down," he said.

However, economist, Dawie Roodt told EWN that he suspects the reason Hadebe resigned is because of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan's interference with the board.

The embattled power utility has R440bn of debt, of which R273bn nominal value is government guaranteed and isn’t selling enough power to cover its interest payments and operating costs, a legacy of years of mismanagement and cost overruns on new plants. Hadebe is the power utility's 12th chief executive officer since 1994.

Chairman of the Eskom board, Jabu Mabuza, said Hadebe has been instrumental in driving stability at Eskom during a very challenging period at the organisation. "We have learnt to depend on his resilience to drive the kind of transformation that South Africa expects of our organisation. Appreciating the toll that this takes on an individual, we have had to, with regret, accept his decision."