NUM says that Eskom did not deserve former Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer

Former Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) with Eskom's board members. Picture: Armand Hough. African News Agency (ANA)

Former Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) with Eskom's board members. Picture: Armand Hough. African News Agency (ANA)

Published Jul 19, 2023

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Johannesburg – The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has said that Eskom did not deserve its former COO, Jan Oberholzer, and has welcomed his departure.

The union said that under Oberholzer, Eskom and the country experienced stage 8 load shedding that was hidden from the public. It said he was the reason behind the endless load shedding.

“It was during the time of both Oberholzer and De Ruyter that R500 million was given to Fidelity without following due process. The quietness of paragons of clean governance is very loud on the matter of R500m. The NUM is calling for those paragons to make the same noise they made against Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe,” the union said.

It said the morale in Eskom would be higher after the departure of Oberholzer, who was occupying a position that was not even on the structure of Eskom; just like the COO position, the position he currently occupies was created for him.

Eskom said Oberholzer was on a fixed-term contract to provide support to the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station long-term operation (LTO) and Kusile Power Station projects and would leave at the end of the month.

“Eskom expresses gratitude to Mr Jan Oberholzer for his dedicated service, expertise, and valuable contributions during his tenure. We wish him well in his future endeavours,” the power utility said.

The Star