10/06/2026
How Meat Industries cheated its workers of benefits
The 2023 sale of Eswatini Meat Industries (EMI) by its nine shareholders to Inyatsi Group Holdings has left a painful trail of unanswered questions, particularly for the workers who were left without terminal benefits after years of loyal service.
Whilst shareholders walked away from the transaction E120 million richer, ordinary employees were left with nothing to take home for their years of loyal service to the company.
Adding the proverbial salt to an open wound was the revelation that the purchase price of E120 million, paid by Mitchelo Shakantu’s Inyatsi Group Holdings to the then shareholders include the terminal benefits to the workers.
All that was left was for the shareholders to pay the workers their dues before handing over the company to the new owners.
In the eyes of the public, such circumstances inevitably breed suspicion and create an impression that fairness was sacrificed for profit.
For the workers at EMI, the whole transaction became a source of suffering, uncertainty and betrayal.
The manner, in which the former shareholders left the workers in the cold despite that money had been apportioned for their benefits, offends not only the law, but conscience and all manner of fairness.
In a bid to get what was due to them, the workers embarked on the long, costly route of litigation. The matter has been dragging in courts since 2023.
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