IS THIS WHY OK FOODS WAS TARGETED?

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. 

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