Eswatini Gives Foreign-Owned Businesses 12 Months To Comply Or Close
Eswatini’s Parliament has recommended giving foreign-owned businesses operating unlawfully 12 months to regularise their operations or shut down.
The recommendation followed a debate on the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade’s second-quarter performance report in the House of Assembly.
It comes amid government inspections targeting non-compliant businesses, particularly shops operated by Asian nationals on Swazi Nation Land (SNL) in rural areas.
The inspections have already resulted in some closures, raising concerns among MPs about job losses, wasted stock and the impact on communities that rely on the shops for essential goods.
Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini proposed a three-year transition period to allow emaSwati to prepare to take over the businesses. Nhlambeni MP Manzi Zwane supported the proposal.
Mafutseni MP Sabelo Mtetwa preferred six months, arguing that government should provide financial assistance to locals interested in taking over the shops.
Other MPs, including Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo, backed a more gradual approach to avoid disrupting access to essential goods.
The ministry stressed that the crackdown was aimed at enforcing existing licensing laws, not removing all foreign-owned businesses. Legally operating businesses would not be targeted.
The proposed 12-month period remains a parliamentary recommendation and does not automatically change existing laws. Authorities may continue enforcing current regulations unless the legislation is formally amended.
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