BREAKING. eNCA shuts down its Africa news division; cancels Africa360; says it will 'continue to report on Africa' as staff retrenchment looms.

eNCA (DStv 403) is shutting down its Africa division and news bureaus across the continent, has cancelled the news channel's weekly show Africa360 and is retracting from its comprehensive African coverage with staff which will be retrenched soon.

eNCA says the Sabido-owned 24-hour TV news channel which has been struggling to keeps its African business financially afloat, will continue to report on Africa despite the dramatic downsizing.

Last month Sabido warned that the pan-African TV news division of eNCA could be shutting down the loss-making division, as well as shuttering its Natural History Unit and factual division and that staff losses will be the result.

Africa360 is now officially cancelled as TV with Thinus reported earlier this month is happening.

"After consulting with staff, eNCA has made the difficult decision to close its Africa division,” the company tells TV with Thinus in response to a media enquiry made Tuesday.

“This impacts the television operations of eNews Africa and regrettably Africa360 will be discontinued. Given its reliance on the bureaus and ability to travel throughout Africa, it was not logistically possible to continue with the show".

eNCA says the downsizing and firing of staff looming "does not affect eNCA, news on e.tv (Zulu news and Prime Time), eNuus on kykNET, nor does it affect our online team at eNCA.com."

eNCA says the news channel – which competes with the SABC's SABC News (DStv 404) and Infinity Media's ANN7 (DStv 405) as 24-hour TV news channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform "will continue to report on Africa issues using a strong network of stringers and deploy teams out of South Africa if necessary".

BREAKING. eNCA cancels weekly magazine show, Africa360, with Kwangu Liwele as part of shocking budget cuts.

You're reading it here first.

I can reveal that eNCA (DStv 403) has cancelled Africa360 with immediate effect, dumping its long running weekly current affairs TV show hosted by Kwangu Liwewe.


UPDATE Friday 10 April 15:39: eNCA says: "We are negotiating with staff to see what can and can't be done. Only then will we be able to say whether something is cancelled or not. Africa360 has officially not been cancelled".


The shocking cancellation of Africa360 - which was started and presented by Chris Maroleng until he left - comes as the 24-hour TV news channel from Sabido Investments is dramatically downsizing its African news division which is set to negatively impact its reach and reporting on eNCA from within Africa.

So far there's no word from eNCA which hasn't respond yet to a media enquiry made Friday morning about the abrupt axing of Africa360.

When Chris Maroleng left eNCA in June last year it came with a radical downsizing and cut in the daily TV news bulletin on eNCA which was devoted to news from across Africa. The culling of that daily, dedicated timeslot left only Africa360 - which is now also getting cancelled.

"Africa360 has been canned with immediate effect following the company's decision to close its Africa division and retrench 40 employees," says a concerned eNCA insider.

"It baffles the mind that eNCA would shut down its Africa Division when everyone else is keen on covering the continent," says an insider.