Company frustrated by sleeping ex-minister back
MBABANE – A foreign company that was frustrated by a sleeping ex-minister in 2012, will eventually set up business in the country.
Jonsson Group (Pty) Limited abandoned its plans to build a factory in the country because a certain former minister, who served in the 8th and 9th Parliament did not attend a meeting with its directors because he was in bed. He claimed he was tired and asleep. As a result, the meeting, scheduled for the Royal Swazi Sun International Hotel in Ezulwini, did not take off.
Jonsson is involved in manufacturing and distribution of garments. Its manufacturing facilities are based in Lesotho and Mauritius. The company produces over 40 000 garments a day. It produces workwear, footwear and other garments.
In 2018, Jonsson Workwear acquired the naming rights to the iconic Kings Park Stadium. The home ground of the Cell C Sharks is known as Jonsson Kings Park.
After failing to set up shop in the country, the company moved to Maputsoe in Lesotho to establish the Jonsson Manufacturing (Pty) Ltd, which now employs 4 024 workers.
It must be said that Jonsson Group (Pty) Limited has patiently waited 12 years for the country to open its doors for an investment that would contribute to the gross domestic product (GDP) and create job opportunities for emaSwati.
The company began to ask for the factory shell to operate its business from
2010.
In 2012, things appeared to be taking shape but negotiations collapsed when the directors assumed that they had clinched the deal.
The ex-minister reportedly told the investors that he was tired and sleeping when he was requested to meet them.
Disappointedly, they returned to their headquarters in Durban, South Africa, where they reportedly took a decision to establish a subsidiary in Lesotho.
SLEEPING
The alleged sleeping ex-minister was reported to former Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini at a breakfast meeting with editors in 2012, but his name was not mentioned.
The prime minister did not take action against him on the grounds that he did not know his name. His excuse did not go down well with certain sectors of society who felt the ex-PM was protecting the Cabinet member from an instant dismissal by the appointing authority – His Majesty King Mswati III.
It must be said that the ex-minister’s failure to attend the meeting cost the country more than 3 000 jobs at that time.
In 2022, Jonsson Group has reignited its desire to do business in Eswatini.
The company has reached an agreement with the current administration led by Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini to build a factory shell in Nhlangano.
ASSISTED
The spade work, however, it has been established, began with the late former Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini and current Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo, assisted by Neal Rijkenberg, the Minister of Finance.
In the current financial year, the Eswatini Government has set aside E165.27 million for the construction of the Jonsson factory shell. The exact figure is E165 266 527.38.
In an interview, Khumalo, the current Minister, did not want to dwell on the past but concentrated on the material on the ground. Khumalo said the factory would be constructed in Nhlangano at the request of the company. He said they had always maintained good contacts with the company. He said at some point, he and Rijkenberg visited the company’s head office in Durban to reassure them that Eswatini was ideal for their investment. The minister announced that designs had been completed. He pointed out that the tender for the construction of the factory would be advertised next week.
COMMENCE
Khumalo mentioned that construction would commence on August 1, 2022. He projected that construction would be completed at the end of July 2023. He said the investor, Nicholas Jonsson, visited the country about two months ago.
On a very positive note, the minister said Jonsson signed off on the designs.
“It’s all systems go,” the minister said.
He believed the success story of Kellogg’s project softened up Parliament, realising that a project of such magnitude boded well for the country.
Such a project, he mentioned, would create jobs, improves investor confidence and further creates a positive sentiment about the country. He said portfolio committees for the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade in both houses of Parliament have been outstanding in supporting the factory shell programme.
He singled out the portfolio committees’ chairpersons, MP Musa Ngcobo and Senator Alberto Samuels as having played a significant role in ensuring the reality of the investment.
He said the execution of the Kellogg project on time and within budget gave the ministry the credibility it needed as the Parliament’s scepticism emanated from projects that were not done on time and within financial limits.
“We intend maintaining that track record,” Khumalo said. Efforts to get hold of Jonsson management were not successful. Jonsson Group, according to its website, has five subsidiary and associated companies that deal in manufacturing, wholesale and distribution of corporate and workwear clothing. These subsidiaries include –
Jonsson Holdings (Pty) Ltd;
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Jonsson Workwear Holdings (Pty) Ltd;
Jonsson Workwear (Pty) Ltd; Jonsson Brothers Investments (Pty) Ltd;
Workwear Depot (Pty) Ltd; Workwear Outlet Stores (Pty) Ltd; Workwear Depot Amathuba (Pty) Ltd;
Jonsson Uniform Solutions (Pty) Ltd; N Jonsson Properties (Pty) Ltd; Jontex (Pty) Ltd and Jonsson Manufacturing Eswatini (Pty) Ltd;
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