Canal+ has slashed approximately 655 jobs within MultiChoice’s African operations through a voluntary severance program, marking the first visible sign of the significant restructuring the French media giant plans for the DStv owner it acquired last year.
Approximately 312 employees, or about 10% of MultiChoice’s 3,400 staff in South Africa, accepted the voluntary departure package. Additionally, 343 employees from outside South Africa also chose to participate.
Sources indicated that these figures were collected before the program officially ended, so the final numbers may increase. Canal+ did not respond to inquiries regarding these figures. MultiChoice described the program as voluntary and aimed at ensuring the company’s long-term sustainability.
Canal+ is using voluntary severance as a solution to a legal issue. When the Competition Commission approved Canal+’s takeover of MultiChoice in September 2025, it set a rule that prevents the company from laying off South African employees for three years due to the merger. This rule lasts until mid-2028. However, voluntary severance packages are allowed, as the Competition Commission confirmed. This gives Canal+ a way to reduce its workforce without breaking the rules of the merger.
The result is the same either way: hundreds of people who worked for MultiChoice are now unemployed, and this number may increase. Canal+ plans to save over €400 million, about R7.7 billion, each year by 2030. This is two years after the retrenchment protection law in South Africa ends in 2028. Once this legal protection is gone, the company will have more freedom to make changes.
MultiChoice’s revenue dropped by €142 million in Canal+’s 2025 results, while the broadcaster lost roughly half a million subscribers. Canal+ said its turnaround plan would require an additional €100 million investment and is built around four pillars: restructuring, content, simplified commercial offerings, and distribution growth.
Showmax shutdown deepens the damage for Multichoice
The job numbers do not show the full impact of the situation. Canal+ closed Showmax on April 30, 2026, calling it an “expensive failure” that led to about R8.7 billion in losses for MultiChoice over three years. This closure ended original shows like Shaka Ilembe, Blood Psalms, and Die Kantoor, which had supported many jobs in South Africa’s film and television industry.
The Competition Commission has launched an investigation into whether the shutdown of Showmax may have violated conditions attached to Canal+’s acquisition, which included commitments to maintain consistent and high-level funding for local South African content.
Canal+ is planning to hire 1,000 field sales staff in its African markets and expand its installer and point-of-sale networks. This move involves investing in revenue-generating frontline roles while simultaneously reducing positions at its head office. Additionally, the company will increase its marketing and branding investments across the continent as part of its strategy to reverse the decline in subscribers experienced by MultiChoice.
Similar read: Canal+ to hire 1,000 salespeople across Africa to save failing MultiChoice
Technext Newsletter
Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!
