Times Of Swaziland: IS THIS WHY OK FOODS WAS TARGETED?

IS THIS WHY OK FOODS WAS TARGETED?
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BY SIBUSISO ZWANE on 07/07/2021 08:42:00


MANZINI - Is the plaque at Kwaluseni OK Foods complex the reason why shops under
the brand were broken into and looted during the recent pro-democracy protest
actions?
This is one of the questions that could cross one’s mind after learning that
Kwaluseni OK Foods complex, which is one of the six shops under the brand which
were looted and torched, have a plaque that is written; ‘This building was
officially opened by HRH Prince Sicalo on September 19, 2019’. Following the
break-in and looting of six complexes and shops under the OK Foods brand between
last Monday night and Tuesday, many people suspected that the franchise was
targeted, but the question was why?
Noting
Worth noting is that before and during the pro-democracy protest actions, the
protesters stated that they were targeting businesses and structures belonging
or linked to the royal family. Since members of the public were wondering if OK
Foods franchise was somehow linked to the royal family, this publication carried
out an investigation to ascertain if there was any link between the two. It was
then that it was uncovered that the Kwaluseni Branch of the franchise had the
aforesaid plaque. Lincoln Motsa, the Managing Director (MD) of Linac
Investments, which operates OK Foods in the Kingdom of Eswatini, said he learnt
with shock that some people had the perception that the business was linked to
the royal family. He said he learnt about this from people who were close to him
and social media networks.
“Maybe some people thought Prince Sicalo, who opened the Kwaluseni Branch of
OK Foods, had bought some shares,” the MD wondered. When he was asked about
the plaque, Motsa said the prince’s name appeared on it because he was the
guest speaker on the day and was the one who cut the ribbon, to mark the
official opening of the branch. It is worth noting that the event was also
graced by the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo,
however, he was represented by the then Minister of Public Service, Christian
Ntshangase. The MD said the prince was just invited as a guest and that his duty
was to make the keynote address and officially open the complex.
Include
On the other hand, Motsa said a total of eight of their stores in the country
had been looted and these included four OK Stores (Kwaluseni, Mathangeni,
Mhlaleni and Logoba), two OK Liquor stores (Kwaluseni and Mathangeni) and two
Savemart stores (Luyengo and Mbikwakhe). He said out of these, four were set on
fire (Kwaluseni, Mathangeni, Mhlaleni and Luyengo), with two being severly
burnt.