Times Of Swaziland: ECSPONENT INVESTORS COMMITTEE ELECTED

ECSPONENT INVESTORS COMMITTEE ELECTED
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Times Reporter on 05/07/2022 08:42:00


MBABANE – A huge milestone has been reached following the election of an
11-member committee to represent the over 1 500 emaSwati whose E340 million
investments were allegedly misappropriated by Ecsponent Eswatini Limited’s
management.
The Investor Relations Committee (IRC) was elected from the 21 members, who were
nominated during the investors’ first-ever general meeting held at Esibayeni
Lodge in Matsapha mid-June 2022. The 21-member group converged at the ESW
Investment Group (ESWIG) offices in Mbabane about a week ago to elect among
themselves the IRC, whose main task will be to work hand in hand with ESWIG’s
newly-appointed management in raising funds to repay the distressed investors.
The election process ensured that all the country’s four regions were
represented to make communication easy and effective.
Another fundamental criterion was fair gender balance, hence the election of
five females and six males. An additional condition that was considered was each
member’s skills that would add value as they undertake the mammoth task for
creating revenue-generating initiatives that would guarantee compensation of the
investors within the shortest time possible. Interestingly, some in the
21-member group volunteered not to be elected after it was indicated that the
IRC members should make adequate time to attend meetings and other related
assignments.
Chairperson
The IRC’s Chairperson is Norman Dlamini while Sincobile Lukhele is the Vice
Chairperson. The rest of the members include Billie Dlamini, Dr Njabu Dlamini,
Michele Lloyd, Yolanda Oswin and Mlimi Mamba. The others are Sydney Kunene,
Sandile Mbhamali, Khulile Nyambo and Douglas Dlamini. The committee will in the
initial stages meet, at least, twice a month. It is envisaged that the frequency
will slightly decrease from next year onwards. The committee held its first
official meeting on Friday, which was described by the chairperson as very
productive. “We pray that God helps us as we undertake this difficult task.
Considering the quality of the committee members, I’m confident that we
won’t fail the investors,” said the chairperson.
Dlamini stated that they would keep the rest of the investors fully informed of
all developments. He said they would have open lines of communication to allow
the investors to share constructive ideas with the committee. He further stated
that; “It’s very important for all emaSwati who invested their monies with
Ecsponent to know that we’re hard at work, trying all we can, in partnership
with management, to ensure that a lasting solution is found to this debacle.
Having had our first meeting, we’re quite impressed and encouraged by the
prospects.”
Dlamini expressed gratitude to ESWIG’s shareholders and management for the
brilliant idea of setting up the committee.
Benefit
“We feel empowered to make meaningful contribution for the benefit of all the
citizens who lost their hard-earned savings. I see no reason why this should not
work out to our satisfaction.” ESWIG’s CEO Max Mkhonza indicated that the
IRC and management had their first meeting on July 1,  2022 to define their
working relationship and agree on priority actions for the short-term. “When
we met all the affected investors on June 17 and 18, 2022, we undertook to work
with them through the committee to accelerate the process of implementing the
turnaround strategy. The July 1, 2022 meeting, therefore, allowed us to
thoroughly engage them on the deliverables of the turnaround strategy for
complete alignment,” Mkhonza said.
He added; “In addition, the meeting thoroughly ventilated the need to
establish a new special purpose vehicle (SPV) and the shareholding of this
company as it is key to the operationalisation of the turnaround strategy. This
vehicle has been established for the sole purpose of developing new income
streams from which the investors will begin to re-coup their losses as committed
by the company.” Mkhonza further indicated that management and the investors
committee would be meeting a variety of critical stakeholders in the next coming
weeks to jointly present the turnaround strategy and to lobby for support. The
critical stakeholders will be Members of Parliament and the Government of the
Kingdom of Eswatini. He also indicated that a comprehensive communique to all
the investors would be sent by the committee by July 21, 2022.