Swazi Observer

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LATE VICTOR GAMEDZEâ€™S DREAM COMES TRUE

By Lungelo Nkambule | 2018-06-18

A Swazi Mobile Trust has been officially registered with the Registrar of Companies.

Following a decision by the Board of the company to engage shareholders on a way forward on how the reward shares would be handed over to the 15 000 subscribers who qualified, it was decided that a trust be established which would be the custodian of the shares.

Handing over the programme to the Trust on Saturday, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Penberton said the event on the day was a fulfillment of a promise made by founder of the company, the late Victor Gamedze to the nation.

He said Gamedze did not want to leave fellow Swazis behind, hence he gave them an opportunity to be a part of the company by being shareholders. “Today we are here to fulfil a promise made 10 months ago by our founder Victor Gamedze and Swazi Mobile. The dream was that Swazi Mobile should be for all Emaswati not just the elite. Getting to where we are today was a process. Originally, the reward shares distribution was linked to Swazi Mobile's Stock Market Flotation. Stock Market Flotations are complex and heavily regulated. Full compliance for necessary approvals takes time. Our preparations for a successful stock market flotation are on-going and we still have a lot to do,” he said. Penberton said because they had realised that stock enlisting was taking quite a while and it was a tedious process and delaying the handover, this trust had to be established.

He said this would also allow the shares reward beneficiaries to be equals to the already existing shareholders because they now had company statues.

“To avoid further delaying the Reward Shares handover, Swazi Mobile's Board approved for management to engage with reward shareholder groups to decide on a way forward. The outcome of the engagements is this event today. To fulfil a promise made by Victor Gamedze and Swazi Mobile with no further delay in a way that protects Reward Shareholders. Swazi Mobile is handing over Swazi Mobile shares worth E1 million to an Independent Swazi Mobile Trust today. The Independent Trust will be the custodian of the E1million shares till the stock market flotation takes place. The Trust will be listed as a shareholder in Swazi Mobile Ltd along with Cherrybite, Stage 1, Swaziland National Provident Fund (SNPF), Swaziland Industry Development Corporation (SIDC) and Mapado with the Registrar of Companies,” he said.

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