MANGOLOLO: FESBC PUSHING MULTIPARTY AGENDA

MBABANE – Mangololo Eswatini is not pleased by the Federation of Eswatini Business Community’s (FESBCs) recent appointments, saying the organisation had allegedly engaged multiparty democracy pushers.

Mangololo Secretary General Nhlanhla Zwane, said there was no need for FESBC to incorporate multiparty democracy pushers and a resigned former army commander as the federation’s frontliners, not unless they were pushing another agenda.

Appointment

Last week, during the federation’s president’s end-of-year statement address, held at S&B Restaurant in Matsapha, FESBC announced the appointment of Paul Matimela as the organisation’s Public Relations Officer (PRO). Matimela is also the Deputy Secretary General of the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO). FESBC also introduced former army commander Jeffery Sipho Shabalala, as the head of Safety and Security. Reacting to FESBC developments, Zwane said they learned with shock and dismay, on the announcement of candidates allegedly with backgrounds that suggested that they were multiparty democracy pushers.

According to Zwane, FESBC’s status quo warrants a review, where they would be engaged in a fact-finding mission. He stated that FESBC was allegedly captured by multiparty stakeholders, as there was no need to involve the alleged multiparty democracy pushers. He mentioned that there was no need for FESBC to allegedly act xenophobic when Eswatini had no Bill in place that promoted and defended certain emaSwati with indigenous businesses. Zwane said the federation should focus on its key objectives and lobby government, Parliament in particular, to address their concerns. “Buying of guns as a means to protecting emaSwati’s businesses from being taken by foreigners, is self-defeating and far from being the solution to the problem.

Lobbying

“FESBC has failed emaSwati by not lobbying government to enact a bill that speaks to this problematic free economy scenario for the longest time. Fighting Inyatsi and Montigny does not solve the situation but instead makes Eswatini xenophobic and scares away potential investors,” Zwane said. Adding, he explained that FESBC needed to lobby Parliament for the enactment of Eswatini Empowerment Bill, to address the free-for-all Eswatini’s economic situation. “The problem is not Inyatsi or Montigny business dominance, but the problem is the free economy scenario we are faced with as emaSwati. The solution to the problem is not the introduction of multiparty democracy, but the simple enactment of emaSwati Business Empowerment Bill,” he said.

Dinner

Furthermore, he made an example of the late former Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini, where in one of his speeches, during the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards dinner which was held at Mavuso Trade and Exhibition Centre in 2013, said the country had no law that empowered emaSwati. Zwane mentioned that as an organisation, they believed FESBC should focus on real issues, than allegedly fighting Inyatsi and Montigny for buying businesses that were free for everyone to buy in the market.

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