MTN Swaziland CEO Barred from Working in the Country

­The mystery over whether the current CEO of MTN Swaziland, Tebogo Mogapi will be able to continue his role deepened when it was reported that he has left the country to return to South Africa. The government has failed to renew his work permit, necessary as he is a foreign national.

It is not currently known if Tebogo Mogapi will be returning to Swaziland.

"There is no point for him to stay in Swaziland if he cannot work and we cannot exactly take the work to his house because that would still be breaking the law, seeing that he has no permit," a senior employee at the mobile company who asked to remain anonymous told the Times of Swaziland.

Although he was granted a special three-month extension to stay in Swaziland, a technicality makes it almost worthless as he is not permitted to work while in the country.

Quite why the government has so far refused to renew the work permit, which expired at the end of October, has not been explained. Neither the government or MTN will officially comment on the matter. The Federation of Swaziland Employers (FSE) has previously expressed concerns about the decision, saying that it could hurt investor confidence in the country.

Mogapi, a South African by birth has been MTN Swaziland's CEO for the past two years. He replaced local man Themba Khumalo who is now based in Uganda.

On the web: Times of Swaziland

Posted to the site on 1st November 2009