Eskom Stage 4 load shedding

Eskom customers will be paying more for their electricity from 1 April 2022. Photo: Clint Mason / Flickr

Jumping ship? Eskom’s ‘Head of Electricity Generation’ QUITS his job

The guy tasked with keeping the electricity flowing in South Africa has stepped down from the role, leaving Eskom in a pickle.

Eskom Stage 4 load shedding

Eskom customers will be paying more for their electricity from 1 April 2022. Photo: Clint Mason / Flickr

After 13 months at them helm, Phillip Dukashe has called time on his role as the Head of Generation at Eskom. The extremely demanding job has taken its toll on the veteran executive, who will now ‘put his health first’.

  • Rhulani Mathebula will replace the outgoing energy expert at the end of May

Who is Phillip Dukashe? Eskom’s Head of Generation quits – as further load shedding looms

Dukashe has also signalled that he will be spending more hours with his family, while re-prioritising his leisure time with work responsibilities. A statement was issued by Eskom Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha earlier this afternoon, confirming that the top official would now abdicate his responsibilities to his teammates.

According to Mantshantsha, Dukashe can be credited with creating a culture of competence in his division, and he even praised him for helping to turn around Eskom’s ‘poor generational performance’.

“Dukashe has cited the critical need to achieve a balance for the benefit of his health, family and work responsibilities. He leaves behind a competent team to ensure sustainability of the Generation Division.”

“Phillip’s vast institutional knowledge, cross functional skills and sound executive leadership experience created the much-needed stability in the Generation division during his tenure and achieved some significant strides in helping to turn around generation’s poor performance.”

Eskom statement

Power utility now ‘a man down’

After 26 years at the company, Phillip Dukashe has likely seen it all. No doubt, people will be rolling their eyes at claims he ‘created stability’ in the generation department while load shedding remains such a prominent threat.

Indeed, on Monday afternoon, we learned another round of load shedding is likely to blitz South Africa this week. Eskom warned of ‘imminent power cuts’ just a few hours ago – but that’s no longer the responsibility of Mr. Dukashe.