By Zweli Martin Dlamini

With eSwatini importing almost 100% goods from South Africa, the new banking regulations suggesting that,transactions with South Africa will now be sent or received as forex means ordinary emaSwati will sink deeper into poverty.

But what is surprising is the fact that, emaSwati are deprived the vital information on this issue, empowering the citizens with information will enable them to prepare for the worse.

Forex comes with delays,there would be no more same day transactions with some South African banks and apart from that,this new transaction method comes with shocking bank charges.

The Central Bank of Eswatini(CBE) has been maintaining silence on this issue yet emaSwati are consistently commenting online,demanding to be lectured about forex,this is very technical to ordinary citizens.

On Wednesday, Central Bank Governor Phil Mnisi released a statement warning about individuals who advertise on social media, claiming to be assisting citizens with Cross Border Payments.

Eswatini is actually entering a new era in the banking system, we warned that this country will one day, be like Zimbabwe or Mozambique and this new transaction method means the Rand is now treated as a foreign currency in eSwatini.

This means under forex, the flow of millions on a daily basis from eSwatini to South Africa(and vice-versa) would be a thing of the past and/or there would be a drastic decline,businesspeople importing goods would have to wait for a few days for a cleared bank transfer.

But most businesspeople might be forced to open bank accounts in South Africa because the future of Lilangeni as a currency, is not bright after these changes within what was known as the Common Monetary Area(CMA).

Cases of money-laundering might escalate because others will opt to cross the border with cash and deposit the money or payments in South African Automatic Teller Machines(ATM) if they want the monies to reflect immediately.

But in the process of crossing the border to South Africa with cash, there would be a great demand for Rands inside eSwatini and along the various Border Gates because you can’t cross with Emalangeni to deposit in South African ATMs.

This decision introducing forex transactions has, or will literally destroy the eSwatini economy.

In fact after this decision, we might see the collapse of some businesses and the rise of a black market but subsequently, the whole economy might collapse and trigger another political unrest.