Times Of Swaziland: ‘COP, MINISTRY ILLEGALLY CLOSED MY BUSINESS’

‘COP, MINISTRY ILLEGALLY CLOSED MY BUSINESS’
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Melisa Msweli on 18/05/2020 08:33:00


MBABANE – A businessman feels unfairly treated by officials from the Ministry
of Commerce, Industry and Trade after police officers closed his shop despite
that he has a permit to operate.
The businessman operates a general dealer shop that sells groceries and other
non-essential items. The store, Reliable General Dealers, is situated adjacent
to First National Bank (FNB).
Operation
Mohsim Bhagubhai said to comply with the ministry’s regulations of allowing
shops which sold essential items to operate, he demarcated and closed the
section of the non-essential items and only opened the grocery part. The
businessman narrated that he was surprised when a male police officer came to
close his shop last Saturday, and informed him that he was not supposed to
operate. He said he did not understand why  he was ordered to close as the
minister said general dealers, selling groceries, could operate. He validated
his claim by showing the permit from the Commerce Ministry, dated April 4, 2020,
which allowed him to continue operating.  “I went to the ministry’s offices
to enquire why I was made to close, and I was given an updated stamp which
indicted that I can operate but to my surprise, police still closed  my store.
For what reason?” he wondered.
The businessman went on to narrate that, having resumed operations in his shop,
the same police officer showed up and ordered him to close again. He said the
police officer claimed to have got the directive from the ministry. When the
police officer was called on the issue, he said he received a call from the
ministry to close the shop. The police officer said what was communicated to him
was that the shop was operating as a general dealer, as per the trading licence
and was not allowed to operate. He said the shop had items which were not
essential.
“We do not just go around closing shops, we get a directive from the relevant
people,” he said.
Comment
When Registrar of Companies Msebe Malinga, who works at the Ministry of Commerce
Industry and Trade, was called for comment, he said there were many factors
leading to the closure of a shop that had been previously allowed to operate,
among which was non-compliance.