Foreigners will be barred
from operating 31 types of businesses in Swaziland if the unelected government
in the kingdom gets its way.
The acting Minister of
Commerce, Industry and Trade Phiwayinkhosi Mabuza introduced a proposed
Reservation of Certain Trades and Businesses for Swazi Citizens Regulations
2017 to the Swazi Parliament.
The businesses listed in
the regulations include a dealer in household and proprietary, grocery, produce
and handwork, private investigator, dealer or speculator in livestock, debt
collector, street vendor and funeral parlour, among others.
The APA
news agency reported that foreigners
who were already in these businesses would not be affected, but only new
entrants would not be granted licenses.
The Federation of the Swazi
Business Community (FESBC) welcomed the move.
It comes as antagonism to
“Asians” in Swaziland grows. The kingdom of 1.3 million people is ruled by King
Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. The King appoints the
Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The kingdom’s economy has been in the doldrums
for years but immigrants have managed to create small businesses throughout
Swaziland.
Newspapers in Swaziland
have been reporting scare stories against Asians for months. In November 2016,
the Observer on Saturday reported
Swaziland’s Director of Public Prosecutions Nkosinathi Maseko saying, ‘most nationals of Asian origin were
associated with terrorist activities’.
It reported he told this to
a parliamentary select committee set up to investigate what the newspaper
called an ‘influx of illegal immigrants’ into the kingdom.
The newspaper reported
Maseko had said, ‘it was public information that most nationals of Asian origin
were associated with terrorist activities; and their continued entry illegally
put the country and its citizens at high risk of being a nucleus for terrorist
activities.’
Maseko and the Observer gave no evidence to support
this.
In October 2016,the Times of Swaziland reported traditional authorities in the Ngcina Chiefdom
in Swaziland had ordered a man to close his grocery business and leave the area
because he is Asian.
See also
SWAZI DPP CALLS ASIANS ‘TERRORISTS’
ANTI-ASIAN FEELINGS
SPREADING
ALL ASIANS BANNED FROM
SWAZILAND
ASIANS
EVICTED FROM HOME
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