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MATSAPHA - With the addition of the new shopping complex, Matsapha will be edging closer to diversifying while not hampering its true identity of being the industrial hub of the kingdom.
Matsapha Town Clerk Lucky Sukati, mentioned that the town of Matsapha was an industrial hub characterised by the many industrial warehouses and firms that formed part of it.
He highlighted that in recent years with the rise in the number of people who came to the town for employment opportunities, efforts had been made to ensure that there was provision of enough shopping complexes, malls, and other essential services that were needed by the residents of the town.
“To date, the town has a daytime population of approximately 35 000 people who work in various companies and industries located in the town and a nighttime population of approximately 20 000 people,” the town clerk revealed.
Luxury
He added that these were people who called Matsapha their home. Sukati reiterated that the Matsapha Link Complex would surely provide residents and stakeholders in the town, with the luxury of getting most of the necessities closer to where they lived and worked.
Sukati stated that this came at a time when the increase in petrol prices was having a negative impact on lives and everyone was extensively seeking for cheaper and easier ways of accessing the things they needed without having to travel long distances.
He expressed that they were extremely excited to see such developments and investments taking place in the town. He highlighted that such activities greatly improved the economy of the town and subsequently, the country at large.
The town clerk stated that as per their slogan, which is “The Kingdom’s Investment Hub”, the town of Matsapha was expected to play an active leading role in creating employment opportunities for emaSwati through such developments.
“We would like to commend Lojaf Eswatini for their decision of bringing such a development to this town as it will greatly enhance the employment opportunities which are in great demand these days,” he quipped.
Meanwhile, Sukati noted the town of Matsapha currently had a traffic congestion issue and with the addition of this new development, the town may have an increased traffic congestion issue. However, he said this was not a unique problem to the town of Matsapha alone.
Congestion
“As Council, we currently have put in place traffic congestion mitigation strategies that are being implemented and we are also actively working on implementing permanent preventative traffic congestion strategies,” he said.
Sukati elaborated that this was done with the assistance of government because the traffic congestion problem in Matsapha was no longer a problem for council alone but of national importance.
He mentioned that they were honoured and proud to be the second town in entire the kingdom to have a store called West Pack Lifestyle, a brand whose products were in high demand by consumers.
Sandile Khumalo who spoke on behalf of shareholders of Greystone, Inala, Lojaf and the Alliance Foods Umbrella brands, which include KFC, OBC and Westpack Lifestyle, expressed that it was encouraging to see the ownership of such reputable businesses being localised, owned and managed by emaSwati, on behalf of emaSwati.
Retirement
He stated that when the financial regulation calling for domestication of up to 50 per cent of retirement funds investment portfolios, a lot were skeptical.
The shareholder said what they were missing was the plethora of opportunities this presented, and that they had to think and move differently.
He further alluded that this bold and new way of thinking in the investment space was what had allowed for events like yesterday’s, to unfold.
Khumalo also mentioned that it was good to see others soldier on and step out boldly and invest in the economy of tomorrow- a show of faith in the resilience and future of the Eswatini economy.
He stated that investing in the growth of businesses not only increased shareholder value, but it also had a net positive impact on the life of the ordinary liSwati. As an example, he said at development stage, this project created 250 jobs, some of which would be permanent through the operational needs of the stores.