Eswatini parliament backs 12-month exit window for foreign shop owners
Parliament in Eswatini has settled on a year as the minimum time foreign business owners should get to wind down and leave, but the trade ministry has already started shutting Asian-owned shops, and nothing in the law yet obliges it to wait.
The shutdowns follow the passing of the Citizen Economic Empowerment Act, which aims to put more of the kingdom’s commercial activity in the hands of emaSwati, as its citizens are called. Local traders pushed for it, saying foreign-run shops were moving into traditional retail territory and squeezing their incomes.
The debate in parliament this week showed how divided lawmakers are on timing. Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini told colleagues that trade ministry officials were already closing Asian-owned outlets. He argued that local entrepreneurs may not be ready to step in, and asked why foreigners should not get three years to train their successors. Hhohho Regional MP Tanele Magagula would not hear of it. She wanted foreign-owned rural businesses seized at once and asked why struggling emaSwati should wait three years while their hardship continues.
Parliament ended up agreeing on at least 12 months. That agreement is not binding, though: until the Act is formally amended to include the timeline, the ministry is free to keep enforcing it as written.
The ministry’s actions follow inspections it began in August. Some businesses visited, including a number in the capital, Mbabane, were found to be fully compliant. The checks did, however, bring up complaints from workers about days off, annual leave and overtime, and at least one case is still under investigation.
The law lands in a country under strain. Eswatini is a small landlocked kingdom ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III, and roughly 70% of its people live below the poverty line. Many of those who hold jobs work in neighbouring South Africa and send money home. Frustration over hardship has fed louder demands for political change, which erupted into pro-democracy protests in 2021, and activists have criticised the royal family’s lavish spending. The government says the Act will widen economic opportunity at a time when poverty and hunger could stoke further unrest.
Similar pressure is building elsewhere in the region. In South Africa, anti-migrant groups set a 30 June deadline for undocumented migrants to leave, and this year’s campaigns have often involved violence and attacks on foreign-owned businesses. Two Ghanaians and two Nigerians were reported killed amid the tensions. Kenya has also stepped up action against foreign traders.
Source: BBC
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