Swazi tycoon buys into new airline

FIVE MONTHS after breaking SA Airlink Swaziland’s monopoly on the key commuter Johannesburg-Matsapha route, Swazi Express Airways has found a coowner in local business tycoon Moses Motsa. The deal gives Motsa 50% of company shares for an undisclosed amount. In addition to introducing low cost passenger fares, Swazi Express is serious about providing air freight services to the kingdom. Swazi Express has partnered with the SA firm Express Air Services to handle overnight deliveries. Government is hailing the deal as a template for foreign investors linking with Swazi partners. They see Motsa’s role as genuine, compared to companies that hire local “partners” who are mere figureheads lacking decision making power and kept out of day-today operations. At the signing ceremony held at the airline’s offices at the nation’s only airport, located alongside the Matsapha Industrial Estate outside Manzini, Minister of Transportation Elijah Shongwe described Motsa, who made his millions in retail businesses, as “brave” for venturing into aviation. Like his partner, company founder Hans Steffen, Motsa supports the development of an expensive and controversial new international airport in Sikhupe, 90 minutes east of Mbabane.