Johannesburg — ESKOM's board has asked CE Jacob Maroga to resign after a troubled tenure marked by power shortages, coal-procurement problems and big tariff hikes.

It was unclear last night if he would agree to go quietly or fight back.

The Eskom board's regular meeting ends today. Eskom sources told Business Day that the board wanted Maroga out, and had asked him to leave instead of firing him.

Signs that Maroga was on shaky ground first appeared last month when a group of senior employees sent an anonymous letter to Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan , demanding his removal. Hogan referred the matter to the Eskom board for investigation. It was not clear yesterday if the latest move was related to the anonymous letter.

Representatives of Eskom and the Department of Public Enterprises would not comment yesterday.

Maroga, formerly an Eskom MD for transmission, beat 270 candidates to replace former Eskom CE Thulani Gcabashe in 2007. The government saw him at the time as the "leader best equipped to take Eskom through the exciting years ahead".

Maroga headed Eskom in the utility's most difficult period, characterised by a low reserve margin, rising capital and operating costs and poor handling of coal procurement.

He recently found himself on the back foot when the Democratic Alliance alleged he had ignored an internal memorandum from energy consultant Susan Olsen showing that Eskom's internal practices were precipitating the electricity crisis.

Maroga said at the time Eskom was aware of weaknesses in its coal contracts before he received the report. The National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) also criticised Eskom's handling of coal procurement.

In a report on nationwide power blackouts in December 2007 and January last year, Nersa said coal stockpiles were allowed to fall to unacceptably low levels, "and there was a reluctance to obtain supplementary coal due to its high cost and its impact on Eskom's financial position".

Eskom has in the past few years been rocked by the departure of senior managers. These included former generation MD Ehud Matya, former finance director Bongani Nqwababa, former corporate MD Duncan Mbonyana, former human resources MD Mpho Letlape and former project 2010 MD Johnny Dladla. Spokesman Fani Zulu has also resigned.

Even though the Cabinet approved the appointment of former Group Five deputy CEO and chief financial officer Paul O'Flaherty as Eskom finance director last month, he has still not taken up the post.