Reduce corporate tax for better wages: Eswatini textile-garment firms

29 Apr '22

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

Some firms in Eswatini’s textile and apparel industry have called for a reduction in corporate tax from 25 per cent to 10 per cent—similarly to that in Lesotho—to raise salaries. Salary negotiations fell through as employers and government apparently voted for 7.25 per cent increment, while the Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA) demanded a 15 per cent hike.

Some companies are also in the process of seeking unpaid layoffs from the office of the labour commissioner following unprecedented torrential rains in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, where raw materials were destroyed.

The province is critical to the country’s economy as it has a major port used for exports and imports of items in and out of Eswatini to international clients.

The companies said the domestic industry has faced massive challenges in recent years due to opening multiple factories in Newcastle, South Africa, which offers them a new rebate policy.

They said the political environment in Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia could also make them to look for new factories there. The ongoing political challenges in Eswatini also posed a great threat to the sector.

They said the drastic fuel price increase had created a perfect storm that was sending them further into a downward spiral, according to a report in a local English-language daily.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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