Written by Tinus Ferreira
Sitting in Randburg, Johannesburg, MultiChoice executives who previously had final approval on decisions say they are frustrated and say the sudden arrival of new owner Canal+, and the transfer of final decision-making functions to Canal+’s own executives in Paris, has left them uncertain about the future and their future.
According to the report, MultiChoice executives who were previously in the know explained that they had not been consulted much in recent days ahead of the release of Canal+’s 2025 financial results, which now includes MultiChoice.
Angry MultiChoice executives are blaming Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada and Canal+ Africa managing director David Mignot for the deterioration and collapse of MultiChoice internally.
Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with producers and content creators as well as MultiChoice executives is growing, with MultiChoice staff telling producers that projects, budgets, and approvals are all delayed and piling up at Canal+’s headquarters in Paris, where Canal+ is unable or unwilling to make decisions or give final approval.
According to Africa Intelligence, Canal+ Africa’s new management structure includes former MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela continuing as president of Canal+ Africa. Hennie Visser has been appointed as Head of Africa Operations and Byron du Plessis, formerly MultiChoice SA CEO, has been appointed Regional Manager.
Aziz Diallo currently oversees Francophone Africa, Kemi Omotosho is responsible for Nigeria, Retief Tromp is responsible for English-speaking countries outside of South Africa, and Glauco Ferreira oversees Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa.
Executives at MultiChoice and SuperSport are angry that their hands are tied, that they are unable to make decisions, that they are isolated and have no final say, and that they have to send decisions to Paris and wait for their approval.
Not only are these executives dissatisfied, they are also questioning their future in what was once MultiChoice or Canal+ Africa.
Canal+ plans to shut down Showmax, MultiChoice’s loss-making streamer, by April 30, and while neither staff associated with Showmax nor those internal to MultiChoice can be laid off, Canal+ will now offer voluntary severance packages to weed out employees who may wish to leave.
The agreement that Canal+ signed with the Competition Commission of South Africa states that MultiChoice employees cannot be fired for three years.
But what is actually happening is that people working at service providers and production companies that create local content for DStv channels such as M-Net, kykNET, Mzansi Magic and African Magic are losing their jobs.
