Motus' SA Vehicle Retail division limits 259 potential job cuts to 67

SA Vehicle Retail, a division with JSE-listed Motus Holdings, said a restructuring process had resulted in the retrenchment of 67 staff, while senior management took salary cuts of up to 30%.

Motus announced last year that a restructuring process had started in July 2025 following a re-evaluation of the SA Vehicle Retail division's operational performance and requirements. The division, which employs 4 000 people across its dealership network, needed to re-align the business in response to the competitive South African automotive retail landscape, SA Retail CEO Gideon Jansen van Rensburg said in a statement Tuesday.

At the time, the restructuring plans had caused much concern among stakeholder bodies, such as the Motor Industry Staff Association, the Numsa trade union and non-unionised members, as the restructuring plans had identified up to 259 administrative and support related staff that may be impacted.

Van Rensburg said that following the re-alignment of roles and responsibilities, the simplification of structures and implementation of operational efficiencies, SA Retail's senior management had agreed to salary reductions of up to 30% from August 2023.

In addition, following a three-month CCMA facilitated process of the 259 affected positions, alternative arrangements were identified, including redeployment across the broader Motus Group, for 74% of the affected employees.

"Regrettably 67 employees could not be redeployed and were retrenched in January 2026," the statement said. In an attempt to avoid further job losses and retrenchments, SA Retail followed extensive consultations with unions and staff representatives and was guided by the CCMA who facilitated the process.

"SA Retail decided to only re-align incentive structures and company car benefits for administrative and support-related employees, in line with industry benchmarks. This is expected to impact about 570 administrative and support-related employees, by less than 20%," the company said.

No adjustments would be made to basic salaries.In addition, employees earning less than R15 000 per month would not be negatively affected by the re-alignment process, said Van Rensburg.

Motus' share price traded 0.42% higher at R129.21 Tuesday afternoon on the JSE, while a year before, the price traded at R105.74.

BUSINESS REPORT