‰a†a ‰ro™s profits by almost 5tŠ

PIGG’S PEAK – The Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Defence, Prince Sicalo, is yet to establish if local soldiers are permitted to rescue members of the public who are attacked by criminals in a neighbouring country.

In an interview with this publication, the PS said he had not yet been informed of the incident where members of 8mbutfo Eswatini 'efence )orce 8E') allegedly crossed the borderline into South Africa SA near Matsamo %order *ate to carry out an operation on alleged robbers.

Travellers

Our sister publication, Eswatini 1ews, reported that many travellers were crossing from the SA side of the border, heading into Eswatini to attend the %uganu &eremony. It is alleged that hundreds of people had flocked towards the illegal crossing where soldiers sometimes guard the area.

Some of the travellers heading for the ceremony at %uhleni were allegedly robbed by four people who were purportedly targeting them and even assaulted some of them before they entered the country. It was revealed that the travellers were robbed of items such as cellphones, cash and other valuables.

5esidents around Matsamo said it was not the first time that travellers were robbed, allegedly by the same people. Some of the people who were robbed allegedly arrived in the country with injuries and complained that their items were taken by force from them.

This was said to have angered some of the residents who reported the matter to the soldiers who normally guard the borderline.

Eyewitnesses

Eyewitnesses alleged that upon being called, the soldiers tracked down the suspects and opened fire on them. Two men aged and 0 were allegedly shot by the soldiers. The younger of the two men died, while the older one was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was being treated for gunshot wounds.

“I haven’t heard of the matter but it is a complex one. /ocal soldiers jumped to exchange gunfire on South African soil" Please contact me again a bit later for me to consult properly on this issue,” said the PS.

However, when called again, the PS asked that a short message service SMS be sent to him. He had not responded to the message sent to him by the time of going to print.

Situations

The PS had been asked to clearly state if there were situations where local soldiers can assist people, particularly those heading to Eswatini through intervening when attacked on SA soil near Eswatini borders.

Meanwhile, the deceased 0-yearold’s body was taken away by South African emergency personnel including police officers who arrived at the scene. Some of the residents who live on the borderline were asked whether the area where the two men were shot was in SA, or Eswatini. However, a resident said the area was in fact on the South African side.

He said this was the reason only *$1'$ - MT1 8ganda, the fourth-biggest market of Africa s largest mobile operator, has grew its profits by almost a fifth in its 2022 year, benefitting from a network rollout as well as strong demand for its data and fintech services.

Profit after tax rose . per cent to 0 . billion 8gandan shillings about 52 billion , the company said yesterday, with mobile subscribers increasing by .2 per cent to .2 million, and fintech revenue growing almost a Tuarter.

Active data subscribers also rose by more than a Tuarter to . million it said, while its * population coverage jumping .2 percentage points year on year to . per cent.

'ata traffic rose more than 0 per cent, while the company said it Mobile Money platform gained significant traction, with its merchant numbers growing more than threefold to

000.

Transactions

Mobile Money is an electronic service that enables users to send and receive money, make payments and perform other transactions using their mobile phones.

The company said it was supported by a customer transition to cashless payments, while its initiatives helped drive a 2 . per cent expansion in the number of transactions on its platform to 2. billion. Transaction value grew of . per cent.

“In 2022, we delivered solid results while navigating challenging macro conditions characterised by slow economic growth, a weaker shilling, rising inflation and interest rate in the first three Tuarters of the year,” &EO Sylvia Mulinge said in the results.

“Our improved data performance and revamped device financing programme has further attracted an additional . million data customers to our network, increasing our smartphone penetration this year to per cent up .2 percentage points .

“On the fintech front, we have continued to grow rapidly, reaching new milestones in product rollout and merchant partnerships thus further deepening digital and financial inclusion,” she said.

SA emergency personnel attended to the scene. He emphasised that there was no way SA officials could have intervened in the matter if the place was in Eswatini.

He said this was not the first time soldiers attended to issues at this spot as both emaSwati and South Africans had been using this informal crossing path to avoid issues of immigration paperwork. Soldiers have always guarded the area so that border jumpers cannot illegally enter either of the two countries, but people just do not want to use the border gate.

Border

It was alleged that the local soldiers jumped the SA borderline through a fencing gap normally used by border jumpers at the informal crossing line.

The place where the border jumpers cross is only a few metres from the official border gate in Matsamo.

Since SA and Eswatini share a borderline, communities living near both sides of the fence separating the two countries often cross into either of the countries illegally, or using army checkpoints.

Sometimes, these official army checkpoints are considered to be very far, resulting in some of the residents crossing illegally instead of using the border or army checkpoints.