Eskom chief financial officer Calib Cassim, who played a crucial role in the power utility’s recent turnaround, has announced his retirement at the end of the financial year ending March 2027.
Eskom’s interim group chief executive Calib Cassim speaks during a media briefing at Eskom Megawatt Park in Sunninghill. Image credit: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
Reuters reports that he is confident his successor will build on the turnaround achieved under the current leadership team.
Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Nelson Banya 26 Aug 2026 Taking a break
“I will take a rest and watch Eskom succeed,” Cassim said at the end of his 24-year-long career at the utility, which saw him serve as interim CEO.
Eskom said it aims to appoint his replacement before the end of the 2026 calendar year.
Meanwhile, Eskom more than doubled its annual profit in the 2026 financial year, helped by an operational turnaround and higher electricity tariffs. However, weaker demand and rising municipal debt are clouding its prospects.
It said it made profit after tax of R30.3bn in the year ended March, compared with a restated R14bn a year earlier, which was its first annual profit in eight years.
Frequent load shedding, which constrained Africa’s biggest economy for more than a decade, has become much less frequent.
Eskom said it implemented rolling blackouts on just four days during the financial year, compared with 13 days a year earlier and a record 329 days in 2024.
Revenue rose 4.1%, reflecting a 12.7% average tariff increase, although a 6.2% decline in electricity sales volumes partly offset the gain.
On the up
Outgoing Cassim told Reuters that weaker electricity sales and the idling of the Mozal aluminium smelter, which has been placed under care and maintenance after failing to reach a tariff agreement with Eskom, would weigh on results in the current financial year.
Gross debt stood at R356bn at the end of March, up from R327.7bn rand a year earlier.
The biggest threat to the future of South Africa’s dominant electricity supplier remains unpaid municipal debt. Municipalities and metropolitan areas account for more than 40% of Eskom’s sales.
Municipal debt rose 17.9% to 111.6 billion rand and could climb to R358bn by the 2031 financial year unless decisive action is taken, Eskom said.
Cassim said Eskom’s earnings would have been around R15bn higher had it collected the R15.8bn owed by municipalities, because revenue from non-paying municipalities is recognised only when cash is received.
“Eskom can be in a position to execute the capital requirements without the need for government support, but you have to solve the municipal debt,” he said.
