Eskom Learnerships: Applications Are Suspended, in Eskom’s Own Words

Eskom is not accepting job or learnership applications at the moment. Its recruitment website is suspended, and Eskom says so in its own words on its own careers page. Dozens of South African sites are still telling people to “apply now” at an address that does not even exist. If you were about to send documents somewhere, read this first.

Checked on 11 August 2026. We read Eskom’s live careers page on that date and tested every address.

What Eskom actually says right now

This notice appears on eskom.co.za/careers, quoted in full and unedited:

“We appreciate your interest in joining Eskom. Our recruitment website is temporarily unavailable until further notice. During this period, job applicants will not be able to create profiles or access job opportunities. Please note that all profiles and job applications submitted before the suspension remain valid.”

Eskom Human Resources

Three things follow from that, and they matter:

1. You cannot currently create a profile or apply. Not for a job, not for a learnership, not for an apprenticeship.
2. If you applied before the suspension, your application still counts. Eskom says so explicitly. Do not panic and do not start again.
3. Anyone offering to take an Eskom application right now cannot do what they are claiming. This is the important one, and the reason this page exists.

The address almost every other site gives you does not exist

Search for “Eskom learnership” and you will repeatedly be sent to careers.eskom.co.za.

That domain does not resolve. We tested it on 11 August 2026 and the request fails at DNS lookup, which means there is no server there at all. It is not down, it is not slow, it does not exist. Any page telling you to apply there has not checked it.

Eskom’s real recruitment system is at eskomcareers.ci.hr, linked from Eskom’s own careers page. It resolves, and it is the correct destination. It is also the system currently covered by the suspension notice above.

Why this is dangerous and not just annoying

Recruitment scams thrive in exactly this gap. A trusted employer name, enormous demand, and an official channel that is closed so nobody can easily check. That combination is the ideal conditions for fraud.

The pattern to expect over the coming months:

• “Eskom learnership 2026 applications now open, apply on WhatsApp.”
• Adverts carrying the Eskom logo hosted on sites with no connection to Eskom.
• Requests for a registration or admin fee to “secure your place”.
• Requests for your ID, banking details or an OTP.
• Application forms hosted on Google Forms or a personal Gmail address.

All of them are fraudulent, and you can now prove it in one step: Eskom itself says applicants cannot currently access job opportunities. Nobody can lawfully process an Eskom application that Eskom is not accepting.

Eskom does not charge for applications. No legitimate South African employer does.

What Eskom runs when recruitment is open

For when it reopens, so you know what to aim at. Eskom’s youth and technical pipeline has historically included:

• Artisan learnerships and apprenticeships: electrician, fitter, boilermaker, welder, diesel mechanic, millwright, instrument mechanician. Typically three to four years, ending in a trade test.
• Engineer-in-training programmes for engineering graduates, usually around two years, leading towards professional registration.
• Bursaries for engineering and technical study.
• Internships and work integrated learning placements.

Requirements have typically included South African citizenship, matric with mathematics and physical science for technical streams, medical fitness, and colour vision suitability for certain roles. We are describing the historical pattern rather than quoting a current advert, because there is no current advert to quote.

What to do while it is closed

Waiting is not a plan. Do these instead:

1. Bookmark eskom.co.za/careers and check it monthly. When the suspension lifts, that page is where it will be announced first.
2. Get your documents certified now. ID, matric certificate, qualifications. Free at any police station. When the portal reopens, intakes close fast and unprepared applicants lose.
3. Look at EWSETA, the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority, which funds energy sector learnerships across many employers, not just Eskom. See our SETA list.
4. Look at merSETA for artisan trades. The electrical and mechanical trades Eskom trains are the same trades funded across manufacturing, mining and municipalities. An artisan qualification is portable. The employer you train with is not the point.
5. Apply to the alternatives that are open, including municipalities via LGSETA, mining via the MQA, and the private engineering and construction sector.
6. Consider a TVET N course in the meantime. N2 and N3 with the right subjects is a common entry route into artisan programmes, and it makes you a stronger applicant when the intake opens.

What it pays

Eskom does not publish learner rates publicly and we will not make one up. The legal floor applies: where a registered learnership agreement is in place, the gazetted minimum allowance runs from R455,00 to R2 654,04 a week depending on NQF level and credits earned. See the full official table. Technical programmes at large employers commonly pay above the minimum, and the real number will be in your offer, not in an advert.

Sources

• Eskom careers page, read on 11 August 2026. The suspension notice is quoted above verbatim.
• DNS and HTTP checks on careers.eskom.co.za and eskomcareers.ci.hr, performed 11 August 2026.
• National Minimum Wage Act No. 9 of 2018, Schedule 2, for the minimum learner allowance.

Next steps

• Transnet learnerships, where the portal is still accepting profiles
• How learnerships work, and how to apply
• All 21 SETAs and what each one funds
• Engineering and technical vacancies on MyJobNest

Checked on 11 August 2026. Eskom’s recruitment status can change at any time, and we hope it does. Always confirm on Eskom’s own careers page rather than trusting this or any other third party page, including ours. MyJobNest is not affiliated with Eskom, does not recruit on its behalf, and will never ask you for a fee.