INYATSI PAYS E1BN TAXES, CONDEMNS FESBC ATTACKS

MANZINI – Inyatsi Group Holdings says it is puzzled by FESBC’s claims of unfair competition.

The company said such claims were equivalent to a second terrorism attack against it. This was said by Inyatsi Group Holdings management during a press conference yesterday, at the company’s head office in Manzini. The management was led by the Group’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Derrick Shiba. The CEO said it saddened them to meet in the boardroom to defend the company’s image once more. He said there had been publications accompanied by a circulating letter from the Federation of Eswatini Business Community (FESBC) about Inyatsi Group Holdings’ alleged unfair competition to local businesses.

Transgression

As a result of these incidences,  Shiba said it was prudent that to set the record straight that “Inyatsi Group Holdings is wholly owned and run by emaSwati.” He said they believed that the company’s transgression, was its pursuit of a robust growth strategy through the acquisition of businesses.
He said all business acquisitions were done in a fair and transparent manner, after being approached by various business owners, who sought to exit their businesses.

Shiba said all the acquisitions were conducted on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis. The CEO said the acquisitions complied with the letter of the law and all requisite regulatory and legal approvals were obtained, including but not limited to the approval by the Eswatini Competition Commission.
He said some of the companies with which the group did business acquisition with were on the brink of closing.

Investor

This included Maloma Colliery Limited (coal mine), which was going to close in about two to four years, under the leadership of a foreign investor.
 He said Infracast PTY (Ltd) was first sold about five years before it was acquired by the group. The CEO emphasised that, due processes and procedures were followed to the letter. He said they were concerned that the buzzwords in the statement were; unfair competition to other businesses, which was far from the truth. The CEO said Inyatsi Group Holdings had been in operation for over 40 years in Eswatini and beyond. As soon as the company came into the control of emaSwati and headquartered in Eswatini, he said it sought to invest in Eswatini with the sole aim of improving the lives of the citizens of the kingdom.

Turnover

To date, he said Inyatsi Group Holdings had over 6 000 employees, with a turnover of E15 billion and an annual wage bill of E622 million.
In the last two financial years, he said the group paid over E1 billion in taxes, royalties and dividends. Currently, he said the group had six active projects in five countries and had presence in 11 countries. He disclosed that the projects in these African countries were valued at E4.8 billion.  He said the organisation ensured continuity by going into Africa to pursue opportunities for business, which has resulted in it securing projects worth about E4.8 billion.

“Furthermore, over 80 emaSwati are employed in these countries, exporting skills,” the CEO said. He said they were shocked to see some emaSwati attacking local investments, instead of supporting them. The CEO said they viewed this bad publicity and destructive criticism, as a second terrorist attack against the organisation following the arson attacks which were also fuelled by similar negative talks about the establishment. Two years ago, he said there was a clear and constant attack on the establishment on social media platforms and later on, it moved to violent arson attacks. He said it was for this reason that they wanted to respond to the aforementioned claims by setting the record straight.

Attacks

“We do not want these claims to culminate or manifest into another violent attack that might also affect the safety of our employees. Instead, we want to sit down and talk,” Shiba said. On the other hand, Paul Lwiindi, the Group’s s CEO Investments, said it looked as though they had been found guilty of hard work and high performance culture. Testament to that, he said they turned the fortunes around at Maloma Colliery Limited. In that regard, Lwiindi said, despite the fact that Maloma Colliery Limited had been in existence for 31 years, it was facing imminent closure, just about three years ago, before they took over.

He said the investment in the mine had allowed for the extension of the mine’s life, by at least 20 years. As part of the investment, he said, they had been deliberate at Maloma, in up-skilling their employees by exchanging programmes with other mining houses in the continent. He said they had also recruited a mine manager with over 25 years of deep level underground mining experience, which was also an effort to bring up their local skills.
Again, he said, Maloma mine have contributed to the improvement of the road leading to the mine. Lwiindi said the road did not only benefit the mine, but also the local communities.

On top of that, he pointed out that about 80 per cent of the staff were local community members. As an organisation, Lwiindi said, the company had an open door policy. He said they had never stopped anyone who wanted to engage them. What they did not want to see, he said, was irresponsible statements about the establishment.

Violence

“We will not tolerate malice that can culminate in violence,” he said. He added that the approach which was used by FESBC puzzled them, as they could sense that there were elements of an aggrieved former employee of the organisation. Maloma Colliery Limited CEO Jabulile Shabangu said the company had invested over E700 million since the takeover. Shabangu disclosed that over E350 million had been paid to the Government Treasury in dividends and taxes since 2022. She said the company created over 900 direct jobs and expanded exports beyond South Africa.

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