Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa (Liquid South Africa) has launched voluntary severance
and early retirement packages for employees, with a two-week window to decide
whether to take them.
“The rapid evolution and integration of digital technologies
in the ICT sector are fuelling increasing competition and mandating rapid,
effective strategic reforms for businesses,” it said in a notice.
“Businesses like Cassava Technologies must generate and
sustain growth and create value for our stakeholders in a dynamic environment.”
Cassava is Liquid’s parent company.
The overall Liquid group has come under severe financial pressure, and its
management has manoeuvred to try to ensure the company can pay its
debts.
Cassava told staff that its strategic vision was to be the
leading digital solutions provider in its chosen markets. To realise that
vision, it must consolidate its operating model.
“Over the last year, the company has rolled out the ‘One
Cassava’ approach across all markets, including South Africa,” it stated.
“In this regard, the company foresees the possibility of
duplications and redundancies in certain job functions.” It said the company’s
new strategic direction will include:
- Realigning
internal structures to eliminate duplication and enhance efficiency. - Ensuring
that the organisational design is aligned with the Group’s consolidated
operating model. - Refreshing
the Company’s skills base to support its transition to a digital solutions
provider.
As a result, it is offering employees voluntary severance or
early retirement packages for those over 60 years old, to lessen the need for
retrenchments if a Section 189 process is implemented.
“These options are intended to provide employees with
alternative exit pathways where appropriate, and minimise the number of
employees likely to be impacted,” the company stated.
“These measures form part of a broader transformation
program aimed at building a future-fit organisation that can deliver
sustainable value to all its stakeholders.”
Applications opened on Monday, 13 April 2026 and will close
on Friday, 24 April 2026. They will be considered at Liquid’s discretion, and
employees must sign a confidential settlement agreement.
“Should voluntary measures prove insufficient, the company
may proceed with a Section 189 consultation process,” it stated.
“During this process, the company and employees will engage
in a meaningful joint consensus-seeking exercise.”
Liquid has had several waves of retrenchments and voluntary
severance programmes, including one as recently as 2024, when details of its
financial crisis also first emerged.
This was four years after Liquid Telecoms rebranded to
Liquid Intelligent Technologies (LIT) and presented employees with Section 189
notices amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Its reasons for considering retrenchments then were the
same. Speculation was rife that the rebranding and strategic repositioning were
a smokescreen to hide the company’s plan to cut jobs.
MyBroadband received information that Liquid Telecom South
Africa was under pressure to improve its bottom line, and without good
prospects to increase revenue, the only option was to cut costs.
However, Liquid denied the speculation, stating that Liquid
Telecom’s transition away from a connectivity-heavy business to a digital
products supplier required a restructuring.
It said its skills mix and structure had to change, with the
potential for staff to be reassigned and trained with new skills to be more
competitive and offer new solutions to their customers.
MyBroadband contacted Liquid for comment regarding its
latest wave of job cuts, and a spokesperson confirmed that staff had been
invited to apply for voluntary severance and early retirement.
“Cassava Technologies is undergoing a strategic
transformation to become a more agile, solutions-driven enterprise,” the
spokesperson said.
“As part of this journey to strengthen our organisational
maturity, we are realigning our workforce to support our new business model.”
Cassava said these measures were essential in positioning
the organisation to deliver superior value, relevance, and long-term
sustainability for all its stakeholders.
It did not respond to a question about why it was necessary
to shed jobs so soon after the last round of layoffs. – Mybroadband