Good news for employees of South Africa’s biggest motor retailer

Employees at Motus can breathe a little easier after the Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA) saw its application to interdict the car dealer from changing employment conditions accepted by the Labour Court.

The union, which represents more than 75,000 members in the automotive sector, applied for multiple urgent interdicts to stop the automotive retailer from changing employment conditions and cease retrenchments.

The Labour Court accepted one of MISA’s applications, interdicting Motus from unilaterally changing salaries and employment conditions for 232 MISA members.

Presiding over the case, Judge Zolashe Lallie agreed with MISA that, according to Section 64 of the Labour Relations Act, the employer cannot unilaterally change terms and conditions of employment.

“Employees plan their lives and those of their dependents based on all the remuneration and benefits they will receive from their employers,” said Lallie in her judgment.

“A narrow interpretation will prejudice employees who work under the threat of having certain benefits taken away at the employer’s whim.”

The judge granted the interdict until 18 February, while MISA’s dispute against Motus is set to be heard by the Motor Industry Bargaining Council’s (MIBCO) Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC) on 16 February.

However, MISA’s second application to interdict Motus from proceeding with its retrenchment processes was dismissed by Lallie.

She concluded that although the facilitated Section 189 consultation process between Motus and MISA was concluded in December 2025, no material change occurred requiring Motus to issue a new Section 189 notice.

Under these circumstances, Motus was not precluded from consulting directly with its employees.

Martlé Keyter, MISA’s Chief Executive Officer of Operations, says the union disagrees with this judgment.

She said MISA will pursue all available legal remedies to ensure that the requirements of fairness, consultation and the Labour Relations Act are upheld.

The union’s attorney, Dr Gerrie Ebersöhn, informed Motus that MISA maintains the group’s conduct remains unfair towards employees, claiming continued pressure to accept revised conditions and retrenchments.

“It is important to note that MISA members who elect to sign the employer’s offer do so under protest and under duress, and with full reservation of their rights,” he said.

“Such acceptance cannot and will not be regarded as a waiver of their legal rights or their right to challenge the process.”

Motus defends its realignment plan

Following MISA’s initial interdict, Motus clarified that its SA Vehicle Retail (SA Retail) division was able to substantially reduce the number of employees impacted by its realignment process.

SA Retail said it was able to reduce the number of impacted employees by more than 44%, and that the realignment of employment conditions was separate from its earlier retrenchments of 67 employees.

The offer Motus tabled as an alternative to forced retrenchments included unchanged basic salary conditions, apart from senior management, who agreed to reductions of up to 30%.

The group explained that its realignment offer would still see affected employees earn an average of 125% of the MIBCO minimum salary.

The Citizen reported that Motus denied that SA Retail had taken unilateral action to retrench employees, as claimed by several industry unions.

Motus said what had taken place was “a realignment process of incentive structures and company car benefits for administrative and support-related employees as an alternative to forced retrenchments”.

The group said it continues to perform across multiple business segments, but that SA Retail has been facing challenges within the local automotive retail market.

The realignment processes were implemented only within the SA Retail division, which Motus claimed does not reflect the performance or stability of the group.

“As part of this process, SA Retail is aligning certain operational structures and administrative and support staff benefits with prevailing industry benchmarks,” Motus said

“These measures are aimed at improving efficiency, strengthening sustainability, and ensuring the long-term resilience of the SA Retail business.”