According to recent data from the National Automobile Association of South Africa (Naamsa), year-to-date production has plunged by 18.8% compared with the same period last year, a striking testament to the growing strain on the sector.

Chinese vehicle brands, in contrast, have seen remarkable growth in South Africa’s light vehicle market over the past five years. Data from industry information provider Lightstone, released in August, shows that their market share rose from just 2% in 2019 to 9% in 2024.

GWM, which owns popular car brand Haval, supplied 96% of those sales in 2019 and in 2024 was joined by Chery. Together they have sold 88% of Chinese-branded vehicles locally this year.

A notable shift in consumer buying patterns is affecting the market, with many South

Africans opting for more affordable vehicles, leading to a rise in the popularity of

Chinese brands, said Kriben Reddy, the chief executive of digital solutions platform

Kredo Mobility.

“These brands offer a compelling value proposition, combining affordability with quality, and are meeting consumer needs more effectively than some traditional players,” Reddy said. 

The aggressive pricing and marketing strategies employed by Chinese brands have created significant competition for local manufacturers, he added, hurting their ability to compete effectively, particularly in the lower and mid-range segments of the market.

“These dynamics highlight the challenges local manufacturers face in adapting to a rapidly

evolving and increasingly competitive market landscape,” Reddy said. 

Sales data from Standard Bank released in September shows that the number of Chinese cars purchased via its vehicle finance unit has consistently increased year-on-year from just over 6% in 2022 to 7.4% in the first half of 2024. 

GWM’s Haval is the most popular Chinese brand financed by Standard Bank since 2022, followed by Chery and BAIC.

The bank noted that these Chinese cars found particular favour in Gauteng, where Standard Bank concluded 54% of the deals. KwaZulu Natal (18%) and Western Cape (10%) also contributed to their growing presence.

Vehicle buyers in South Africa are making similar purchasing decisions to their counterparts worldwide, with a strong focus on connectivity, in-car experience and technology, according to Ghitesh Deva, a partner at Forvis Mazars.

“Chinese brands have successfully positioned their offerings to cater to these priorities at price points that traditional European, Japanese and American OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] have struggled to match. 

“Consequently, Chinese brands are rapidly gaining market share, supported by their commitment to quality, as evidenced by product warranties that are hard for consumers to overlook,” Deva said. 

Chery, Jetour and Omoda have offered 10-year or 1 million kilometre engine warranties. In South Africa, a typical engine warranty for new vehicles usually ranges from 3 to 5 years or 60 000 to 150 000km, depending on the manufacturer and model.

While the demand for vehicles in the country can influence how many are produced locally, this effect is often limited, Deva said. This is because local production is more closely aligned with the global logistics and strategies of the original equipment manufacturers. For example, a local factory might primarily produce vehicles for export, as part of a global supply chain, rather than strictly meeting domestic demand.

Deva said Chinese manufacturers’ ability to produce vehicles at highly competitive prices had disrupted markets globally. 

“For example, one of Germany’s largest OEMs recently announced the need for drastic cost reductions to remain competitive. This includes closing factories and making significant workforce reductions, particularly in Germany, as a response to the increasing competition from Chinese manufacturers,” he said. 

Vehicle export sales have dropped significantly this year, down by 23.9% in the 11 months to November, compared with the same period last year. Exports for November saw a sharp decline of 28.6% versus the same month last year, according to Naamsa.

The association said the slide reflects a challenging macroeconomic context and a weaker rand. 

“The US dollar has appreciated against most currencies, including the rand. Monetary policy in major economies will remain restrictive, with new inflation pressures and heightened uncertainty over the past two months suggesting diminished policy space. 

“Domestic vehicle exports will remain a function of the direction and the economic performance of global markets in the new year,” it said.

Reddy said the reduction in exports to the EU presents a significant challenge to the sustainability and competitiveness of South Africa’s vehicle manufacturing sector.

The automotive industry remains a vital contributor to the economy, accounting for around

5.3% of GDP. A drop in export volumes directly affects the industry’s ability to maintain its role as an economic driver.

The fallout from this is underutilised manufacturing capacity, with factories optimised for export markets operating below capacity, job losses, not only in manufacturing but also in the broader automotive value chain, including suppliers and logistics and reputational impact, Reddy said.

“Sustained declines in exports may erode South Africa’s standing as a reliable and competitive hub for vehicle production, potentially deterring future investments,” he said.

Deva said depressed exports might also be because of South Africa’s offering to the global market.

“The European region has set a firm deadline for the sale of zero-emission vehicles. Since a significant proportion of South Africa’s vehicle exports go to this region, the sustainability and competitiveness of the local manufacturing industry are directly tied to its ability to transition to producing zero-emission vehicles,” he said.

“The industry’s future depends on the swift action of relevant stakeholders, as the window of opportunity is closing rapidly.”

While there are initiatives to promote electric vehicle (EV) production in the country, they remain limited, Reddy noted.

South Africa would probably start producing its first electric vehicles in 2026, the department of trade, industry and competition said last year, as former minister Ebrahim Patel outlined plans for the country’s green transport transition.

“Expanding these efforts will be essential for South Africa to compete in the growing global EV market,” Reddy said.

Zane Dangor, director general of the department of international relations and cooperation and South Africa’s sherpa, told a media briefing late on Tuesday that it was necessary to assess the purpose of the G20, its mandate and what agreements had been made on various tracks over its history.

“We need to look at what has been achieved and what enabled that achievement. We must also look at what was not achieved and what were the disabling factors,” he said.

The G20 presidency rotates annually among the member countries and will go to the US next year.

Dangor said a methodology would be developed for the G20 review so that the right questions were asked to yield the right answers for a proper analysis of the grouping. 

“By the time we get to the end of our presidency in November, we can give them clear recommendations on how to improve the G20,” he said. 

The G20 was established in 1999 as an informal forum for finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s most industrialised and developing economies to address international economic and financial stability.

While its early discussions primarily centered on broad macroeconomic issues, the forum has since broadened its scope to include topics such as trade, climate change and sustainable development.

“This review does not formalise the G20; the members seek to remain informal so that levels of flexibility are maintained but also so that it does not seek to compete with formal multi-lateral institutions like the UN, AU, which have secretariats,” Dangor said. 

A policy brief by Bertelsmann Stiftung, a research firm based in Germany, showed that the citizens of Argentina, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States have complained about the lack of transparency of the G20 summits. 

“Often the process of the summit meetings has been criticised. In many cases, it has been described as non-transparent, ineffective and too expensive as well as lacking sufficient democratic legitimacy,” the paper said.

Dangor said strengthening disaster resilience and response would be a key topic for the G20 during South Africa’s presidency “based on the fact that climate change is with us and that the damage arising from climate change needs a specific response”.

“We are going to amplify the voices of the Global South. We have 15 working groups in the sherpa track that will essentially drive this agenda,” he said.

On Wednesday and Thursday the finance track will meet to discuss issues pertaining to global growth, climate finance and enhancing debt sustainability.

The latest inflation rate is still below the lower point of the South African Reserve Bank’s target range of 3% to 6%.

According to data released by Statistics South Africa on Wednesday, the November print is the first uptick in year-on-year inflation in nine months.

Annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages retreated sharply to 2.3% in November from 3.6% the previous month, the lowest rate for the category since December 2010, when it stood at 1.6%.

Eight of the 11 food groups registered lower rates, including vegetables; milk, eggs and cheese; hot beverages; bread and cereals; cold beverages; meat; sugar, sweets and desserts; and “other” foods. Fish inflation was flat, while oils and fats as well as fruit recorded steeper price increases.

The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) had predicted an acceleration to 3.2% for November while Nedbank economists forecast 3.1%. 

Reacting to the data, Standard Bank group head of South Africa macroeconomic research Elna Moolman said the downside surprise was largely a result of lower food inflation than expected. 

“This implies that there is significant relief for consumers with inflation quite low and lower than most consumer’s income growth. This underscores our expectation that there will be an ongoing recovery in consumer spending in the coming months,” she said.

“It also clearly vindicates the [Reserve Bank’s] decision to start cutting interest rates and signals that there is scope to continue cutting interest rates in 2025.”

The Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 7.75% last month, following a similar reduction in September, which was the first decrease in four years.

The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for 30 January 2025.

On Wednesday, Stats SA also calculated inflation rates for 10 expenditure categories, providing insight into the effect of inflation on various socio-economic groups. 

The agency found that the poorest households have shouldered the highest inflation rate since January 2022, peaking at 11.3% in April 2023. This declined to 3.8% in November 2024 but remains the highest across all expenditure categories. By contrast, the wealthiest households registered an annual increase of 3% in November, slightly above the headline rate.

In November the provinces with the highest inflation rates were Western Cape (3.4%), Free State (3.2%) and KwaZulu-Natal (3.1%). Inflation in Western Cape remained above the headline rate for the period January to November 2024.

Limpopo (2.4%) and Mpumalanga (2.5%) recorded the lowest rates.

This story has been corrected to reflect that food inflation, not food prices, slowed to a 14-year low.

This follows the announcement that more jobs are to be cut at ArcelorMittal, following last year’s statement that 3  500 jobs at its Vanderbijlpark plant would be slashed. Initially, the company said it would have to wind down its entire long steel operation, but later reversed that decision.

The industry has teetered on the brink of collapse for more than a decade because of low global demand and rising price pressures. Chinese and Thai price undercutting has been a key factor in its decline.

ArcelorMittal employs 9  000 workers, but many more downstream jobs are at stake.

Company spokesperson Tami Didiza said that “should these issues not be addressed as a matter of extreme urgency, it will only be a matter of time before the viability of the local integrated primary steel industry will be at risk”. 

Didiza declined to give a figure for the number of retrenchments now on the cards, saying this will depend on how many workers can be reassigned.

He said voluntary severance packages in certain areas of the business will be offered, while some employees will be able to apply to fill new and existing vacancies. 

The company, working with the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa, announced that it will try to help affected employees by applying for benefits under the government’s training lay-off scheme through the department of employment and labour.

During a lay-off, the state covers the worker’s training costs and provides an allowance for up to six months. Companies qualify if they face closure or distress but have a strong likelihood of becoming sustainable with short-term support.

But it is unclear what training programmes are in place for jobless steel workers and how their skills can be repurposed. 

Asked how steelworkers can be upskilled or re-skilled, the department of employment and labour said this falls in the ambit of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, which did not respond to questions from the Mail & Guardian.

Skills in the manufacturing sector should be transferable but research has shown that there is no crossover between industries, said Ayabonga Cawe, the chief commissioner of the International Trade Administration Commission.

“This is because there are no roles. There are no labour demands that can absorb these skills. One fundamental characteristic of the South African labour market and its economy is its inability to mop up workers who have certain skills that may be relevant to other industries,” Cawe said. 

ArcelorMittal’s Didiza said the company would offer voluntary severance packages to bargaining units in raw materials, the sinter plant, blast furnace, tar plants, foundries and the steel plant based at Vanderbijlpark. 

“The redundancies are for operational reasons rather than because of labour cost savings. The coke batteries have come to the end of their useful life and jobs there became redundant,” he said. 

This is the second retrenchment notice issued by ArcelorMittal in 12 months, following its decision in November last year to wind down its long steel business, which produces wire, rods, rail and bars. 

Cheap steel imports from the Asian market, particularly in China, have subdued the demand for South African produced steel products, putting pressure on the sector. 

South Africa’s official trade statistics show a significant surge in imports of value-added steel products, with year-to-date imports rising by 17.5%, according to a South African Iron and Steel Institute report released in November this year. 

“Cheap steel imports of variable quality continue to impact the local market. The absence of trade safeguard measures (which currently operate extensively internationally) apply to the importation of cheap steel products of variable quality,” Didiza said. 

This week the International Trade Administration of Commission of South Africa (Itac) announced that the South African Revenue Service (Sars) will provisionally implement duties on imported structural steel. 

This follows Itac’s request to the tax agency to impose 52.81% duties on steel imports from China, and 9.12% duties on imports from Thailand, for six months from 29 November, while the investigation is finalised.

The investigation began after Itac found prima facie evidence that China and Thailand were dumping steel in the Southern African Customs Union — that is, at prices below production costs — causing material harm to the local industry. 

Didiza said such practices “have far-reaching effects on the local integrated primary steel industry, including a negative impact on the downstream, direct and indirect job losses, an increase in imports and a loss of critical local manufacturing and opportunities for localisation and beneficiation”.

At a media briefing on Tuesday to mark the assumption of the year-long role, President Cyril Ramaphosa noted that the climate crisis was worsening. “We all seek to avert the worst effects of climate change and to preserve our planet for future generations. The G20 provides us with a platform to pursue these collective goals.”

The World Meteorological Organisation has said that Africa bears an increasingly heavy burden because of climate change and disproportionately high costs for essential adaptation.

On average, African countries are losing 2% to 5% of GDP and many are diverting up to 9% of their budgets towards responding to climate extremes.

By 2030, it is estimated that up to 118 million extremely poor people living on less than $1.90 a day (R34.35) will be exposed to drought, floods and extreme heat in Africa, if adequate response measures are not put in place.

“The increasing rate of climate-induced natural disasters is affecting countries around the world, with a devastating impact on those countries that cannot afford the costs of recovery and rebuilding,” Ramaphosa said.

“We will elevate this issue to leader level, calling for the global community, including international financial institutions, development banks and the private sector, to scale up post-disaster reconstruction.”

To further the continent’s commitment to achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals by 2030, Ramaphosa said the G20 under South Africa’s presidency would mobilise finance for a just energy transition, given that together the G20 members account for about 85% of global GDP and 75% of international trade. 

“We will seek to secure agreement on increasing the quality and quantity of climate finance flows to developing countries,” he said.

“This would include strengthening multilateral development banks, enhancing and streamlining support for country platforms such as the Just Energy Transition Partnership and more effectively leveraging private capital.”

At this year’s G20 summit in Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged the leaders of major economies to accelerate their national climate targets, calling on them to reach net zero climate emissions five to 10 years ahead of schedule.

“There is no time to lose,” Da Silva said, noting that 2024 is probably the warmest year on record, with flooding and drought becoming more frequent and intense.

On Tuesday, Ramaphosa said South Africa’s G20 presidency will also focus on addressing key challenges facing Africa, including high debt levels and financing for the just energy transition and would advocate for the strategic use of critical minerals.

“We must take action to ensure debt sustainability for low-income countries,” he said.

“A key obstacle to inclusive growth in developing economies, including many in Africa, is an unsustainable level of debt which limits their ability to invest in infrastructure, healthcare, education and other development needs.”

The president said this was an opportunity to place the needs of Africa and the rest of the Global South more firmly on the international development agenda.

According to data released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Tuesday, four out of 10 industries fell during the quarter, including agriculture, forestry and fishing, which decreased by 28.8%. Transport, trade and government services also contributed to the dip.

The weaker GDP data comes after the economy grew by a revised 0.3% in the second quarter as the absence of load-shedding created a more favourable environment for producers and lower inflation, especially on essentials such as food and fuel, supported consumers’ purchasing power and real incomes.

However, even during the second quarter economists viewed agriculture as the wildcard, saying lower summer crops would be a dampener on growth. Agriculture recorded its second consecutive decline in the third quarter.

The agriculture industry experienced a tough quarter as drought plagued the production of field crops such as maize, soya beans, wheat and sunflower. Adverse weather conditions also hindered the production of subtropical fruits, deciduous fruits and vegetables in parts of the country, Statistics SA noted. 

Tuesday’s data showed that on the expenditure (demand) side of the economy, exports decreased by 3.7%, the largest decline in three years. The slump was mainly the result of weaker trade in pearls, precious and semi-precious stones and precious metals; vehicles and transport equipment (excluding large aircraft); chemical products; base metals and articles of base metals; and machinery and electrical equipment.

The Bureau for Economic Research had predicted third quarter growth of between 0.2% and 0.4%, while noting lingering uncertainty about the volatile agriculture sector and the difficult-to-measure tertiary sector.

Nedbank economists also forecast growth of 0.5% on the back of a slight uptick in economic activity over the period which reflects better operating conditions and firmer domestic demand brought about by falling inflation.

The 75 294 packs from batch WEW96J, which have been recalled, were distributed in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mauritius, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) told the Mail & Guardian.

The error was picked up by a pharmacist and a patient, the regulatory authority said. 

Earlier this month, pharmaceutical company Bayer issued a statement about the recall, saying it was initiated because of the discovery of a limited number of YAZ Plus packs from the compromised batch in retail pharmacies with a mix-up in the sequence of hormone-containing and hormone-free tablets.

Because the compromised packs only have four days of the active pill, if a user has sex the preceding five days then they are at risk of falling pregnant and must take emergency contraception — the morning after pill — said Dr Judith Kluge, a gynaecologist and expert on contraceptive science.

“This is an emergency contraceptive issue because all these women are at risk of being pregnant and who is liable?” Kluge said.

“The problem is we don’t have such good health systems so it depends on the individual doctor who prescribed it [contraceptive]. We don’t have the manpower to check who got a Yaz Plus prescription. All of this is essentially a contraceptive emergency.”

Sahpra said a limited number of packs were affected by this quality issue and that this was evidenced by the fact that pharmacies and patients only started picking this up with later packs. 

The batch was manufactured on 26 April 2023, packaged from 7 to 9 August 2023, and released on 9 and 24 November 2023.

“Unfortunately, as the recall is ongoing, we are unable to provide a tally of returned packs,” the regulatory authority said. The recall was initiated on 21 November.

Sahpra said the recall is ongoing as per its guidelines and an interim report will be provided by the manufacturer two weeks after the recall implementation date. Another report will be issued 30 days post the recall date.

Asked whether there had been an investigation into how the mix-up occurred, Sahpra said the investigation was ongoing.

The department of health said it could not ensure that all patients and healthcare providers were aware of the Yaz Plus batch recall because the contraceptive is not provided at public health facilities, is not on the essential medicine list and is not on tender. 

“The department of health does not have data of women affected by defect batches because Yaz Plus contraceptives are not provided at the public health facilities. However, any clients presenting to public health facilities with any complication will be evaluated and managed accordingly,” the department said.

The listing on Thursday, at R54 a share, earned Boxer’s parent company Pick n Pay R8.5 billion. Boxer has a market capitalisation of R24 billion, above Pick n Pay’s R22 billion. 

“Its really like the early beginnings of Shoprite, when they started out, and just the expansion that Boxer will be able to achieve over the next couple of years is really tangible,” said Maurice Madiba, head of primary markets at the JSE. 

Boxer and Shoprite both target the low-income consumer market.

“Boxer is more like Shoprite in the sense that they are a retailer that has different suppliers, for example, in some of the rural communities, they get their fresh produce from the local farms. They also have such big buying power that they can offer that to consumers at reasonable prices,” Madiba told the Mail & Guardian. 

Boxer first opened its doors in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, in 1977. Forty-seven years later, it boasts over 500 stores, trading throughout South Africa’s nine provinces, as well as neighbouring eSwatini. 

Pick n Pay acquired Boxer in 2002, under the leadership of Sean Summers, during his first stint as chief executive. At the time, it had 35 stores and annual sales of R800 million. 

Now its annual turnover is R40 billion.

It was possibly destined that Boxer would be separately listed during Summers’ second tenure at Pick n Pay. The parent company has faced significant financial and operational challenges in recent years, driven by several factors, including increasing trading expenses and declining profits. 

Even property companies have recently distanced themselves from Pick n Pay with landlords opting not to renew leases, due to the company’s underperformance, the M&G has reported. 

Operational missteps, including an ineffective strategic plan launched by former chief executive Pieter Boone in 2022, further hindered Pick n Pay’s recovery efforts.

The company has struggled to modernise its core supermarket business, although  segments like Boxer have shown relative strength, offering some hope for recovery​. In an effort to turn things around, Boone was given the boot and Summers brought back into the fold.

“I feel an extraordinary sense of pride in what they have grown to become. We saw the potential in Boxer over 22 years ago, when we first bought the company, and I have no doubt it will grow as a formidable contender in the retail sector. It’s come full circle,” Summers said in a statement after Boxer’s listing.

Pick n Pay retains a 65.6% stake in the business. 

“This is a positive outcome for Pick n Pay as you are able to see the value creation that this unbundling brought. This is one of the biggest trades I’ve seen open up,” Madiba said. 

In a statement, Pick n Pay said the Boxer listing significantly strengthened its balance sheet. 

“The capital raised will convert interest costs to interest earning as the business strengthens its balance sheet and holds surplus cash reserves. 

“This will provide the funds required for the Pick n Pay turnaround plan, including investment into new stores, store refurbishments, range optimisation, technology, innovation and staff training and development,” it said.

The per capita murder rate for the Eastern Cape was 20 per 100 000 people for the three months from July to September.

“This is the highest per capita for the country when you take into consideration the nine provinces,” Major General Thulare Sekhukhune, the component head: crime registrar at the police department, told a media briefing on Monday as the latest crime stats were released.

In second place was the Western Cape with a per capita murder rate of 14 per 100 000, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 12 and Gauteng with nine. The province with the lowest per capita murder was Limpopo with four per 100 000 people.

“When you look at these numbers you have to see that, for some, it is when many people are killed in one incident. We are all familiar with the story of what happened in Lusikisiki, whereby 18 people were killed in one instance,” Sekhukhune said. 

He was referring to the slaying of 18 people and the injuring of five on 28 September outside two houses in the town of Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape.

“We also had the incident in Kanana where eight people were killed [at a tavern in Klerksdorp in July] and this particular incident also resulted in 12 attempted murders. Then we also had seven victims killed in Highflats, six in Umlazi, five in Phokeng and five in Bronkhorstspruit,” Sekhukhune added.

In Hlokozi, in Highflats, seven family members were shot and fatally wounded when they attempted to kill police officers in Umlazi on 12 October 2024, and six people were killed in Umlazi in August.

With regards to rape, the Eastern Cape had the second-highest per capita rate with 23 per 100 000 in the second quarter, after the Free State which topped the provinces with 24 per 100 000. 

Nationally, rape cases decreased by 3.1%, while robberies at residential premises and non-residential premises were down 1.3% and 21.1%, respectively.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said the only increases reported were for attempted murder, which rose by 2.2%, while assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm increased by 1% and commercial crime climbed 18.5%.

“Despite these gains, the persistence of high crime rates underscores the urgency of doubling our efforts in law enforcement, prevention and community involvement,” Mchunu said.

Asked what had led to the decrease in murders and rapes, Mchunu told reporters: “Police are at work.”

What were the main challenges faced by MultiChoice in the recent reporting period?

We have navigated numerous headwinds including severe currency depreciation, which has reduced our trading profit by close to R7 billion in the last 18 months. We also continue to see a strained consumer environment with inflation at elevated levels across many markets. 

In Nigeria, inflation soared above 30%, and in Zambia drought-driven power outages lasted up to 23 hours a day. These factors significantly impacted our interim financial performance and affected customer growth.

What were the effects of foreign exchange on MultiChoice’s financial performance, especially the devaluations in the rest of Africa?

Abnormal currency depreciation in the rest of Africa has been a real challenge since the start of FY24. We generate revenues in local currency across most of our markets, while a significant portion of our cost base is fixed and denominated in hard currency.  

This requires a tough balancing act, but we’re navigating it with tight cost controls and a relentless focus on operational efficiency. 

Our ongoing cost optimisation efforts with other improvements in the business delivered R1.3 billion in savings, contributing to a 32% increase in trading profit before incorporating the Showmax costs. The R1.6 billion step-up in our Showmax investment trimmed the organic trading profit to R5 billion, a modest 1% year-on-year decline, with a R2.3 billion FX loss reducing it to R2.7 billion on a reported basis.

Is the deal with Canal+ strategic for MultiChoice?

Absolutely. They bring scale, expertise and a shared vision for delivering unmatched entertainment in Africa. Together, we will be better positioned to deal with global competition while keeping African audiences at the centre.

Is MultiChoice confident that the deal with Canal+ will help it better compete for content against giants such as Netflix?  

Without a doubt. Canal+ is a game-changer for us in enabling us to compete against large, well-funded international players, especially in content and co-productions. They understand the power of localised storytelling, just like we do. Together, we can create content that global players can’t replicate — African, authentic, and loved by our audiences.

What role would Canal+ play in MultiChoice’s business ecosystem, particularly in content and technology sharing?  

Canal+ is more than a partner — they’re an accelerator. They’ll help us co-produce premium content, share tech expertise and unlock new efficiencies. Think of it as combining the best of both worlds to deliver even more value to our customers, so that we can compete against massive international players. 

What challenges does Canal+ face in the African market compared to MultiChoice, and will these not hamper the latter’s progress on the continent? 

Like any partner, Canal+ has strengths and challenges. The challenges include language barriers, brand strength, and market familiarity — but that’s where we shine. MultiChoice knows Africa inside out, and together, we’ll play to each other’s strengths to grow the market.

With traditional pay-TV facing challenges, where does MultiChoice see its future growth?

The key is staying agile and customer-focused. The future is clear: streaming, local content and tech innovation. Showmax is a significant part of our growth story — besides general entertainment, we added the English Premier League and the current local Premier Soccer League football leagues to our offering. We’re also growing new revenue streams like insurance, internet and gaming.  

How much did MultiChoice invest in Showmax during the interim period? Why was this investment necessary?  

Streaming is the future of video entertainment. Through Showmax, we have positioned ourselves to participate in this strategic shift and the future growth of online video on the continent. To create sufficient capacity and drive growth, we increased our investment in Showmax by an additional R1.6 billion during the interim period. This investment ensures Showmax is not just competitive — it’s a leader in African stories and innovation, driving new subscriptions and delighting customers.

How does MultiChoice plan on winning back its lost subscribers?

Winning back subscribers means showing them they’re valued. The decline in the linear subscriber base is a common challenge across the global pay-TV industry and is mainly driven by competition from streaming services and the growing influence of social media. In our case, this trend is further compounded by macroeconomic and consumer pressures. 

We have some exciting festive offers coming up and are focused on delivering richer content and a better customer experience. We’re also targeting bringing back lapsed subscribers and keeping them happy.

Is it fair to say that sports packages are keeping MultiChoice’s head above water?

Sports are undeniably a cornerstone of our success. Our rights to premium leagues like the EPL drive loyalty and engagement. But let’s not forget — our strategy is broader than sports.

Our general entertainment offerings, especially local shows, continue to be very popular. That is why we continue to invest in local content and have produced 2,763 hours in the past six months, expanding our local content library to over 86,000 hours. Streaming, local stories, and customer innovation are just as important in keeping us ahead.