Mbabane – While the retail business sector might be extremely competitive, it has not deterred at least two young co-directors of the Mbabane Trading Company (MTC) Pty Ltd from running and growing it.
Thabo Kunene, MTC’s finance director, and Sifundo Dlamini, the sales director, stated that they are still standing strong since they began receiving some intimidating assessments, particularly for their age and appearance. They say they were not taken seriously in business circles, implying that the retail shop may fail in their hands.
However, since the company began operations in 2017, they have defied these assumptions. MTC, a sibling firm to Matsapha Trading Company, founded in September 1988, may have been severed by the COVID-19 pandemic-sanctioned partial shutdown.
The company is booming. We had the opportunity to chat briefly with them, and here is what they said.
Question to Dlamini (Q Dlamini): Mbabane Trading Company, what could you tell people about who you are? What is MTC to you? I know you are inside it. What is it to you?
Answers (A): Okay, Mbabane Trading is the heart that comes first in serving the community and the country. It is about community service. That’s all I’ll say about Mbabane Trading.
Q (Kunene): What’s happening today?
A: Today, we are marketing and giving out corporate t-shirts, similar to his t-shirts, because that is now a brand in its own right. To the Swazis, if you purchase any of our products, you will be eligible for a free t-shirt based on the item’s price range.
Q: You guys look rather young to be directors. You know that usually we are accustomed to seeing someone with a mkhaba. What is the idea behind MTC?
A (Kunene): Mbabane Trading Company, I would say, has been a family business. It’s one of the family businesses. Unfortunately, we’ve lost one of the mentors, the main person behind the whole thing, because we are a sister company to Matapa Trading. But I’ve been given the initiative to run the show since I’ve been working very closely with him. While I had the privilege to work with him very closely, he’s given me the chance to implement changes in the company, and I’ll be honest with you, it hasn’t been easy. Like you said, we look young, and people sometimes don’t take us seriously in the business sector, but we are dominating. We are known. There is competition, yes, but we try to overcome all of that with our countrywide footprint. We deliver anywhere and everywhere as long as it’s within Eswatini.
Q (Kunene): I hear you saying it’s a sister company or family company, can you clarify?
A: It’s a sister company. There is a main branch that is Matsapa Trading, down in Matsapa. It’s been running for the longest time. We’ve only started this one in 2017 as a sister company to the main company. We work very closely because we’ve been getting most of our stock from them since before we started buying our own stuff from South Africa. Yes. So, we’ve been working very closely,e and our prices are basically the same.
Q: What are some of your best prices here today?
A (Dlamini): On the prices, we have a wide range.
Q: How is it important to support local businesses?
A (Dlamini): I would like to say to our beloved Swazis, as we are here, we are brothers and sisters. In the community, we live together. Whenever you support Mbabane Trading, you are giving back to your only family. So it is a good thing to support local businesses because whenever you start a business in mind, you have created job opportunities. Number two: You are lifting up the economy of the country. Number three, it’s a lesson. You are teaching other people that you can do it as a Swazi. You can do it as an individual. So, what can stop you? So, to me, if you support local businesses, it’s just to say you are in one.
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