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MATSAPHA – Mashayinkonjane Meat Butchery, the 2019 EYA winner, suffered damages amounting to E380 000 during the 2021 unrest, but has overturned the situation by opening one more butchery.

After the June 2021 unrest, the 2019 Entrepreneurship of the Year Award (EYA) winner was left with four branches, but maximised the money received from the Reconstruction Fund to open a sixth branch in the country. This was revealed by Sifiso Nhlengetfwa, the Managing Director (MD) of Mashayinkonjane Meat Butchery yesterday when he officially opened his sixth branch at Logoba, Matsapha. This latest outlet occupies the premises which were widely known as KaMkhulu Ncence.

Nhlengetfwa said as someone who started a business with the aim of creating job opportunities for emaSwati and empowering them to start their own businesses, he applied for relief from the Reconstruction Fund in order to reopen the affected butchery (at Eteteni in Matsapha). However, he said while the application was analysed by the committee, the employees of the affected outlet were without jobs and he made means to reopen it.

Later on, he received money from the Reconstruction Fund and, even though he had debts to cover, he decided to expand his business, creating employment opportunities. “Currently, in the six branches, we have employed about 80 emaSwati and as we expand, more employment opportunities will be created,” the businessman said. He said as a businessman, in most of the meetings and seminars he attended, the alarming figures of unemployment in the country were always highlighted. This, he said, encouraged him to fight poverty by creating more job opportunities, especially for the youth. It is worth noting that currently, the unemployment rate in the country stands at 33.3 per cent and according to the

Eswatini National Skills Audit Report, about 60 per cent of the youth in Eswatini are unemployed. The official opening of the sixth branch of Mashayinkonjane Meat Butchery at KaMkhulu Ncence’s premises was blessed by the Motsa family, who obtained the land for business through kukhonta. The Motsa family was represented by Velinjani, who confirmed that an agreement was reached to rent out the premises to Mashayinkonjane Meat Butchery.

(PICS: SIBUSISO ZWANE) MASHAYINKONJANE MEAT BUTCHERY MD SIfiSO NHLENGETFWA (seated 2ndL) POSING FOR A GROUP PHOTO WITH THE ELDERS OF THE MOTSA FAMILY (HIS LANDLORDS) AND STAFF MEMBERS DURING THE OFfiCIAL OPENING OF THE SIXTH BRANCH FOR HIS BUTCHERY BUSINESS.

BUSINESSMAN STEVEN MOTSA (2ndL) BEING ASSISTED BY FORMER KWALUSENI MP MKHOSI DLAMINI TO CUT THE RIBBON TO MARK THE OFfiCIAL OPENING OF MASHAYINKONJANE MEAT BUTCHERY’S SIXTH BRANCH AT LOGOBA YESTERDAY.