• Jan Oberholzer, former chief operating officer at Eskom, will finally part ways with the company at the end of July.
• Oberholzer officially retired from the position in April after a 30 year tenure, but was brought back on a fixed contract to oversee two key power stations.
• One of which was Koeberg Nuclear Power station, of which the Electricity Minister has made doubtful remarks.

The former chief operating officer (COO) of Eskom, Jan Oberholzer, is leaving the utility at the end of July ending his around 30 year tenure at the company after officially retiring in April 2023.

A man surrounded by the controversy of the utility he worked for, Oberholzer outlasted 17 CEOs at Eskom during his run at the company. The 65-year-old manager recently had to deal with allegations of corruption, a bomb threat and the general decline of Eskom, which is seeing its worse year in terms of loadshedding in 2023.

Oberholzer was retained at Eskom on a fixed-term contract even after retirement, providing “support at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station long term operation (LTO) and Kusile Power Station projects,” according to a brief announcement by the utility.

“Eskom and Mr Jan Oberholzer part ways by mutual agreement,” it reads. “His last day with Eskom will be 31 July 2023.”

“Eskom expresses gratitude to Mr Jan Oberholzer for his dedicated service, expertise and valuable contributions during his tenure.”

Oberholzer will be the final COO of Eskom as Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the board of directors has seen fit to eliminate the role.

The announcement of Oberholzer’s departure coincides with comments made by the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, that he is “very, very worried” about the ongoing maintenance at the Koeberg nuclear power station.

Unit 1 of two generating units at Koeberg has been offline since November 2022 to undergo necessary refurbishment. It is expected to return to service in August 2023, when after Unit 2 will be placed offline for its maintenance.

According to News24, Ramokgopa has doubts that Unit 1 will be able to return to service in August, in fact it could continue being offline until 2024 due to delays in its servicing. If this happens, both Koeberg units would be offline. One unit at Koeberg generates nearly 1 000MW of power, which can be translated to a single stage of loadshedding.

With both units down, what is now felt as Stage 1 would become Stage 2. What is Stage 7 would become Stage 8.

Oberholzer, who was overseeing the maintenance at Koeberg, departs an Eskom teetering on collapse with a nigh-impossible task ahead of it to right the ship, according to former chief executive at the company, Andre de Ruyter.