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# Eskom is back in profit, and the man who ran its finances through the turnaround has retired
- URL: https://www.businessbagel.com/eskom-is-back-in-profit-and-the-man-who-ran-its-finances-through-the-turnaround-has-retired/
- Published: 2026-11-02T03:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-02T02:59:59.000Z
- Description: Calib Cassim's 24 years at Eskom ended on 31 October, but with no successor appointed he is carrying on as acting finance chief.
- Author: Christian Maidman
- Tags: Companies, Business Bagel News

Eskom's finance chief has retired, at least on paper. Calib Cassim's last day as group chief financial officer was Saturday, 31 October, but no successor has been appointed, so he carries on in an acting capacity until one starts. He also stays on Eskom's board as an executive director until then.

None of this came as a surprise. Eskom told the holders of its bonds in October 2025 that Cassim would leave in October 2026, a gap it said would let it "timeously appoint his replacement as well as facilitate a smooth handover and transition." A year on, it says only that it will provide updates on a new appointment "in due course".

## Eight years in the finance seat

Cassim spent 24 years at Eskom. He became chief financial officer in November 2018, and from February 2023 to January 2024 he also ran the utility as acting group chief executive, until Dan Marokane was appointed to the job.

His tenure ends with Eskom in profit for a second year in a row. For the year to March 2026 it reported profit after tax of R30.3 billion, more than double the restated R14 billion of the year before. Eskom put the improvement down mainly to power stations that performed better, tighter control of costs and burning less emergency diesel.

Cassim's own account, at the results in August, gave a large share of the credit to the state. "Government's debt relief support has been a critical enabler," he said, because it freed cash to go into the plan to fix the power stations rather than into servicing debt. He also pointed to "our first credit-rating upgrade in over a decade".

## What the next finance chief inherits

Whoever takes over inherits a stronger balance sheet, not a finished one. Eskom's debt fell to about R320 billion by the end of June, but what municipalities owe it kept climbing, to about R119 billion. And the year's revenue growth came from higher tariffs, with the amount of electricity Eskom actually sold falling 6.2%.

The spending is about to get bigger too. Eskom expects its capital spending to grow from R45 billion a year in 2026 to more than R70 billion a year from 2029, with profits reinvested to help pay for it. Until a new name is announced, the man running Eskom's books is the one who has just retired.