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The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the confirmation today from Eskom's acting board chairperson Mpho Makwana that Eskom has parted ways with CEO Jacob Maroga. This action, 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 chairperson Bobby Godsell, one of the most highly respected board directors in the 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. Maroga's tenure has been bitterly disappointing. From the loadshedding 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. On top of all this, he has been awarded enormous wage increases and been propped up by an ANC administration that seems to care little about any of the failings of Eskom under his tenure. Maroga's departure now provides Eskom with an opportunity to attend to its now tattered reputation by hiring a new CEO based on competence, and ability to deliver.