Jan Oberholzer. Photo: Elvira Wood
In a surprise announcement, Eskom announced that the facility and former chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer “will be parting ways by mutual agreement.”
Last month, Eskom confirmed this Two-year contract with Oberholzer To oversee major projects at the Kusile coal-fired power plant and the Koeberg nuclear power plant.
Oberholzer officially retired in April of this year, with The board said it intended to abolish the COO position upon his departure. His retirement followed the controversial exit of former CEO Andre De Ruyter.
Eskom Group’s acting CEO, Calib Cassim, said he has appointed Oberholzer on a contract basis to oversee the completion of significant projects at Kusile and Koeberg.
Earlier on Monday, Electricity Minister Kgosincho Ramukjuba said He was “very, very worried” about Koeberg’s renewal is behind schedule, which will lead to higher phases of load shedding that will continue through 2024.
Koeberg is undergoing a life extension, which includes the replacement of all steam generators in both units.
If the outages of the two units overlap, Ramukjoba said, it would be a “huge drag” in Eskom’s generation capacity.
On Monday, Eskom said Oberholzer’s last day would be July 31, 2023. He has worked at the facility for more than thirty years.
“Eskom expresses its gratitude to Mr. Jan Oberholzer for his dedicated service, experience and valuable contributions during his tenure. We wish him well in his future endeavours,” the company said in a statement.
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