Over 236 employees will be retrenched after Ster-Kinekor shuts down 9 cinemas

by Limpho Nonkonyane

South Africa’s biggest movie exhibitor Ster-Kinekor will be shutting down nine cinemas nationwide.

Ster-Kinekor announced that it will not only shut down these cinemas but retrench 236 of its employees which is a third of their workforce.

According to IOL, the movie company owned by UK-based Blantyre Capital Ltd and Greenpoint Capital Pty Ltd declared plans to apply Section 189(3) after assigning a statement to retrench 236 mostly historically disadvantaged employees.

These retrenchments were affected by load-shedding and the Hollywood writer’s strike last year, causing most movies and series to be delayed due to no available writers.

With the global pandemic affecting businesses globally, the number of attendances in cinemas has decreased as people are now streaming movies online with platforms such as Netflix, Showmax, PrimeVideo, Disney Plus and many more.

Entertainment commentator Phil Mphela posted this announcement on X (previously known as Twitter), where he announced that the nine cinemas that would close nationwide would include, Bayside (WC), Boardwalk (KZN), Mimosa (KZN), Shelly Beach (KZN), Cedar Square (GP), Maponya (GP), Matlosana (GP), Southgate (GP) and Sterland (GP).

Many users were saddened by this news but later understood that people could stream on online platforms.

One user commented:

Another user said:

An X user mentioned the rise of online streaming platforms affecting cinemas.