{"id":48020,"date":"2024-04-21T17:02:16","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T17:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?p=48020"},"modified":"2024-04-21T17:31:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T17:31:51","slug":"licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening","title":{"rendered":"LICENCE DELAYS MATSAPHA BOXER\u2019S OPENING"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Eswatini. <\/strong><\/span><b>The new Boxer Superstore in Matsapha has employed over 60 emaSwati but is still not operational about five months after its completion.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Information gathered by the Eswatini News has revealed that the facility\u2019s management is still waiting to get a licence from government, through the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, before operations can start.<\/p>\n<p>It has been established that the official opening of this superstore was initially scheduled for December 6, 2023.<\/p>\n<p>However, due to the delay in issuing of the licence by the relevant authorities, operations have been in limbo to-date.<\/p>\n<p>This has left the over 60 emaSwati who had been employed by the superstore stranded and frustrated at the same time. Most of these could not even enjoy their Christmas due to the disappointment over the delay. \u201cThis superstore was supposed to start operating in December last year, but due to the licence challenges, it remains closed. This is very frustrating, especially for the over 60 jobless emaSwati that were employed by Boxer management,\u201d a senior Boxer employee confided.<\/p>\n<p><b>Reporting<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It has also been gathered that some of those employed have been reporting to the superstore\u2019s premises with the hope that they would find it open. \u201cYou can imagine how it feels to be promised employment just before Christmas, only to be made to wait for months because our government is seemingly dilly-dallying with issuing the licence. People raised concerns about lack of employment during Sibaya, but it appears government is not helping the situation if it would take such a long time to grant a licence,\u201d a concerned Matsapha citizen lamented.<\/p>\n<p>Further investigations uncovered that food commodities that were already in the superstore ahead of its scheduled opening in December last year, had to be removed and distributed to other Boxer outlets due to the licence delay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe superstore was good to go in December last year because all the commodities were already inside, but after realising that there were issues with the licence, management decided to remove them and send them to sister outlets, as there were fears that they would get spoiled,\u201d a source closer to Boxer\u2019s management said.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, it has emerged that some Matsapha residents, eager to see the superstore operating, even allegedly threatened to take matters into their own hands after allegedly approaching some Boxer senior employees with an offer to stage a protest over the issue of the delayed licence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey came and pledged to stage a protest over the delayed opening of the superstore. That is how desperate people of Matsapha, are to see Boxer operating. Unfortunately, government holds the ace in ensuring that the shop operates,\u201d said one of the Matsapha residents, who claimed to have been employed at the superstore. A 35-year-old woman from Logoba, who also insisted that she was employed by the superstore, lamented the current situation.<\/p>\n<p><b>Offer<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I got this employment last year, I was so excited because I have been struggling without work for a long time now. I used to work at one of the textile firms here in Matsapha, but we were laid off with a couple of others and then came the Boxer offer,\u201d she said. The woman, who said she has two children, stated that her unemployment situation has left her in a state of desperation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you notice, most of the unemployed women around here like myself end up involving themselves in regrettable habits just to put food on the table for their children. It, therefore, becomes even more frustrating when you get a job offer but end up being stranded because my government is taking time to process licence for us to work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Another 40-year-old woman who resides at Mhlaleni, shared the same sentiments, even alleging that some of the young ladies who were waiting to start work at Boxer, can now be found on the streets involved in sex trade. \u201cPeople forget that these young ladies are staying in rented one-room flats and so, if there is no monthly income, some resort to desperate measures just to get money. You find some as young as 15 years already involved in this trade, which is bad,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The woman lamented the fact that most textile firms in Matsapha were not hiring everybody. \u201cWorking in those firms is not a secure job because you can get fired just after three months. At least, supermarkets are better in terms of job security as long as you focus on what you were hired to do, not stealing,\u201d she said. Boxer Regional Manager Jeremiah Mkhonta was contacted on this issue but he referred such inquiries to his Director, Jason McCall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, I have no authority to discuss such issues in the media. Please kindly call my director to get proper response on what you are asking me about,\u201d he briefly stated. McCall, when asked to shed light on the issue, assured that the delay is worked on by Boxer and the relevant organisations involved, as hastily as possible. He thanked Matsapha residents and shoppers for their patience over the delayed opening of their superstore in Matsapha.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe look forward to providing feedback on the matter as soon as possible. Please note that Boxer is dedicated to serving communities across Eswatini, and as soon as official news regarding Matsapha is available, the press will be notified,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\">Eswatini<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Eswatini. The new Boxer Superstore in Matsapha has employed over 60 emaSwati but is still not operational about five months after its completion. Information gathered by the Eswatini News has revealed that the facility\u2019s management is still waiting to get a licence from government, through the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, before [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":48019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[234,248,249],"class_list":["post-48020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eswatini","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>LICENCE DELAYS MATSAPHA BOXER\u2019S OPENING - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The new Boxer Superstore in Matsapha has employed over 60 emaSwati but is still not operational about five months aft ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LICENCE DELAYS MATSAPHA BOXER\u2019S OPENING\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The new Boxer Superstore in Matsapha has employed over 60 emaSwati but is still not operational about five months aft ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eswatini\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-21T17:02:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-21T17:31:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2024\/04\/sm_1713704443.732916.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"680\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"LICENCE DELAYS MATSAPHA BOXER\u2019S OPENING\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-21T17:02:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-21T17:31:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening\"},\"wordCount\":906,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2024\/04\/sm_1713704443.732916.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Eswatini\",\"Eswatini\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/licence-delays-matsapha-boxers-opening\",\"name\":\"LICENCE DELAYS MATSAPHA BOXER\u2019S OPENING - 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