UNREST AFTERMATH: E13M LOSS, NO GOVT VISIT

MANZINI – Directors of HB Motors are concerned that two months after losing assets valued at E13.2 million, government officials are yet to visit their premises.

HB Motors is an import car dealership that had 90 of its vehicles set alight during the political unrest which started on June 29, 2021. It is located at Sobhuza area, less than 500 metres from the Nazarene Traffic Lights. Munawar Mubashar, 35, expressed concern that since they suffered this loss, there had been no communication from government despite that their compound is along the Matsapha – Manzini Public Road (MR3 freeway). “The communication we’ve had was with the police when we recorded a statement. Other than that, there is nothing else and it is sad,” he said. The businessman said this was disheartening and he did not want to believe it was influenced by the fact that they were expatriates. He said following the unrest, they witnessed the then Acting Prime Minister, Themba Masuku, touring some of the destroyed businesses for inspection and hoped someone would also come to assess theirs.

Compensated

He said they were equally in the dark on whether they formed part of the businesses that would be compensated by government under the Reconstruction Fund. Worth noting is that another import car dealership that had its vehicles torched during the political unrest was Motor Centre at Logoba. It suffered losses estimated at E6.5 million as 40 vehicles were set alight. To the concern raised by Mubashar, Government Spokesperson Sabelo Dlamini said: “I am not sure yet of this week’s government’s calendar as it is only approved by Cabinet on Tuesday.” Dlamini also said details of the Reconstruction Fund would be announced during its launch on September 6, 2021 as announced by the Finance Minister – Neal Rijkenberg. Dlamini was asked to assist with information on whether the inspections conducted by government officials were still ongoing and also how those who suffered damages to their businesses would be assisted following the announcement of the Reconstruction Fund.

Subsequent to the political unrests in the kingdom, His Majesty King Mswati III pledged E500 million on behalf of government for the reconstruction of businesses that were affected. The King said the money would come from the government consolidated fund and would be merely the first contribution towards the reconstruction of businesses that suffered. Meanwhile, Mubashar said the aftermath of the political unrest was not just wreckage of burnt items; but the threat of being blacklisted for HB Motors.
He said his prospects of being in the import car dealership business hung in the balance as his business faced being blacklisted in Japan for a debt with their suppliers. Mubashar said the total value of the cars that were burnt to ashes was E10.135 million.
This debt is for stock that was taken on credit and was to be paid for after the vehicles had been sold. In total, HB Motors suffered E13.2 million worth of damages when their compound was set alight.

Mubashar said the challenging part was that after losing everything during the mayhem, they still stood to be blacklisted by their suppliers if they failed to honour their contractual obligations. He said there were eight trucks which were burnt, inclusive of five Toyota trucks, one Toyota Dyna, Nissan Atlas and Nissan Vannette. Mubashar said there were also 19 Toyota vehicles, 16 Honda Fit sedans, 14 VW vehicles, 10 Mazda sedans, six Audi sedans, five BMW vehicles and five Nissan X-Trail sport utility vehicles (SUVs). There were also three Mitsubishi vehicles, a Nissan Murano SUV, Mini Cooper, Peugeot, Mercedes Benz. Furthermore, Mubashar said besides being blacklisted, they could not even afford to remove the torched vehicles from their compound. He said they had lost everything such that they could not afford rebuilding their structure as well. He said: “According to a quotation we made, to refurbish the offices will cost us about E690 640. Any money that could be coming in from debtors is hard to get as all documents that were business-related were gutted by the fire.”

These documents were blue books that were withheld while their clients had not paid off the vehicles, invoice books, sale agreements with customers procuring vehicles on credit and customer details. Also, he said the value of the items that were within the offices when it was burnt was about E2.393 million. Mubashar said the office items included mobile phones, office furniture, stationery and fittings. He further said to them, the political unrest had also deprived them of nine employees whom they had worked with for a lengthy period. The employees, he said, had to be retrenched as there was no work. Worth noting is that government estimated the value of the destruction during the violent protests characterized by looting, vandalism and burning of property at E3 billion. It was further said over 5 000 people were rendered unemployed.

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