"Zuma can learn from Brian #SaxonwoldShebeen Molefe", quipped Malema on Twitter, as news of Molefe's departure spread.

Molefe announced on Friday that he was quitting as group chief executive, but added that it in no way meant he was guilty of any of the allegations relating to the Gupta coal deal.

"I go now, because it is in the interest of the public and Eskom, that I do so," he said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

He would leave on January 1 2017.

Molefe's departure comes after former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's report titled State of Capture , which probed whether there was any truth to the allegation that wealthy industrialists, the Guptas, had a hand in appointing key Cabinet ministers.

A company co-owned by the Guptas and Zuma's son Duduzane landed a huge coal supply deal with Eskom after Eskom had loaned it money to buy an ailing coal company.

Molefe's cellphone records placed him near the Gupta home in Saxonwold. At a press conference on November 3, Molefe inadvertently started the hashtag #SaxonwoldShebeen when he inexplicably hinted that he may or may not have been visiting a shebeen in the vicinity.

He also complained that he had not had a chance to answer questions from the Public Protector on the coal deal. However, new Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said he had been given written questions.

Molefe has been credited with keeping rolling black outs at bay since he took over in September 2015.

- News24.com