By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:Mduduzi ‘Magawugawu’ Simelane, the Siphofaneni Member of Parliament has warned government against the systematic move to shut down ‘Dubai car dealers.

This comes after Neal Rijkernberg, the Minister of Finance published a notice, the “Used Motor Vehicle Permit Specification Notice 2020” that seeks to ban the importation of cars older than seven (7) years, a decision that will come at a huge cost for the financially citizens.

On Saturday, the Times of Eswatini quoted Setsabile Dlamini, the Communications Officer within the Ministry of Finance confirming that import cars older that seven years will be banned, adding that this was meant to increase the country’s revenue in the South African Customs Union (SACU).

“The country wants to enhance its share of SACU revenues. The more imports from within the SACU, the more revenue the country gets in terms of SACU receipts,” the communications officer said.

But the Siphofaneni MP when speaking during a press conference in his offices in Matsapha on Monday said before the arrival of ‘import’ cars, citizens were facing transport challenges, with others driving over-heating cars as moving from one place to another was literally a struggle. He said as a Member of Parliament, he will definitely oppose these proposed regulations by the government.

“It seems there’s war against the citizens, someone don’t want them to own cars. Let’s move gradually, at least from cars older than 15years to 12 years, that would be acceptable. These are regulations that are enacted under the Ministry of Finance so they will not seek Parliament approval, but I strongly believe Parliament have the power to stop this because I don’t believe any MP who represents the people can allow such this” said the MP.

Mbongwa Dlamini, the President of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) had earlier told this Swaziland News that as teachers, this decision will hit them hard as before the arrival of these import vehicles, it was rare to see a teacher driving a car.

“Government must provide a valid reason why import cars older that seven years are being banned because that’s what we afford as citizens. If the car is older than seven years and the buyer is comfortable with it, what’s wrong with that? We have old government cars that are unroadworthy, some are even using teaspoons to start the engine, but they are on the road” said the SNAT President.

The decisions by government suggests that import car dealers and those selling spares might be forced to shut-down due to loss of business.