Key SA investor threatens withdrawal

Traditional tree burning practices may force a key South African investor in Swaziland to shut down operations news reports said Monday.

The investor, a wood pulp manufacturer called Sappi, has lost an estimated US $15 million because of the burning of its timber forests surrounding Bhunya south of the capital Mbabane. Sappi is one of the country’s largest employers. In the Bhunya area alone, it employs some 1,800 people.

The fire starters are thought to be peasant farmers and residents of the nearby communal Swazi National Land. Damage is caused by blazes set to smoke bees from their hives.

Ben Nsibandse, administrator for the area said that he feared the consequences should the company withdraw. “The teachers at the town school, the nurses at the clinics, the transport operators, the shopkeepers, all will be out of work from the ripple effect caused by a company closure,” he said.