Broadcaster eNCA launched South Africa's first 24-hour news channel back in 2008. Now it may cut more than half the people who make it. The channel, part of the JSE-listed eMedia Holdings, has started a Section 189 process — the formal retrenchment consultation South African law requires — that could affect 171 of its 309 employees. The retrenchment letters, signed by eNCA managing director Norman Munzhelele, were obtained by Rapport and the Sunday Times.
The reason management gives is a familiar one: fewer people are watching traditional television news, and more are getting it on their phones. The notices say the current newsroom is built on "traditional models" that "no longer support this evolving landscape", and that "certain roles, function and/or structures can no longer be sustained in their current form". The plan is a smaller, digital-first newsroom.
What the cuts would look like
The consultation is expected to run until the end of November, with any retrenchments taking effect from 1 December. Staff who are let go would receive severance of 1.5 weeks' pay for every completed year of service — though anyone who "unreasonably" turns down an offer of alternative work inside the company would forfeit that payout.
Why staff are angry
The mood inside the newsroom is not calm. Employees who spoke to Rapport pointed to recent spending by management, including a trip by eMedia group CEO Khalik Sherrif and guests to the soccer World Cup in the United States, just ahead of the retrenchments. They also pointed at the top of the pay scale: Sherrif earned R19 million in the 2025 financial year, including a R10.3 million bonus, while the group's lowest-paid worker earned R98,000. eMedia, which also owns e.tv, the streaming service eVOD and Openview channels such as eExtra and eMovies, employed 864 people at the end of March.
The company is saying almost nothing publicly. eMedia declined to comment, noting as a matter of principle that it does not discuss internal business operations, confidential employee matters or internal processes through the media. With consultations running to November, the real question is how many of those 171 jobs actually survive the process — and how loudly the newsroom fights for them.
