Johannesburg - Opposition parties welcomed Jacob Maroga's resignation as Eskom's chief executive officer on Thursday, with the DA saying the electricity parastatal will get an opportunity to attend to its "tattered reputation".
Former Eskom chair Bobby Godsell, on the other hand, had no comment to make.
"Mr Godsell told me that he has no further comment to make and I haven't heard from him since, so things have not changed," said his personal assistant Liz van Niekerk.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson Manie van Dyk said in a statement that Eskom would get to mend its reputation by "hiring a new CEO based on competence and ability to deliver".
"Maroga's tenure has been bitterly disappointing. From the load-shedding crisis, to planning failures in the development of new power stations, and the enormous 'non-technical losses' that Eskom has suffered...
"It is quite clear that Maroga failed to resolve the key challenges that the power utility has faced, and in several important respects contributed to notable failings," said Van Dyk.
Pieter Groenewald of the Freedom Front Plus echoed van Dyk, saying the appointment of the new executive officer "has to be done on merit and expertise".
"Only experts will be able to help Eskom," he said, adding that Maroga's resignation would attract investors to the country and boost employee morale at the parastatal.
Makwana told members of the media at a briefing held at Megawatt Park, Eskom's headquarters, that "there is no golden handshake. He leaves like any other employee who has resigned".
Also welcoming Maroga's resignation was trade union Solidarity, which said "urgent intervention by Eskom is now needed to tackle the looming human resources crisis at the company".
"Solidarity has been warning for quite some time that Eskom employees are experiencing high levels of alienation.
"A survey conducted by Solidarity among members at Eskom showed that more than 60 percent of employees do not see a long-term future for themselves at Eskom while 95% indicated that the Eskom management was not doing enough to retain skilled workers at Eskom," said Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans.
Confirmation of Maroga's resignation by Makwana ended days of speculation about his position at Eskom, following a power struggle between him and the former chairman of Eskom's board, Bobby Godsell, who resigned this week, and announcements by the ANC that Maroga had not resigned.
Both the DA and the FF Plus lambasted the ANC for its involvement in the debacle.
"This action [announcement of Maroga's resignation] it must be noted, has been taken in spite of all of the ANC's attempts to prevent Maroga's departure - political meddling that has already been responsible for the loss of Godsell, one of the best directors in this country.
"In fact, the entire Eskom debacle has quite unequivocally sent a message to South Africa that the ANC government is willing to tolerate incompetence and mismanagement, even while excellence is berated and attacked," said Van Dyk.
Groenewald said "the handling of Maroga's resignation by the government and the Minister of Public Enterprises, Ms Barbara Hogan, shows clumsiness and amateurishness.
"This clumsiness led to the expertise of the previous chairperson of the board, Bobby Godsell, being lost to Eskom and the consumers," he said.
- Sapa