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MANZINI - The good part is now done, but the important one, which is to keep the quality management system (QMS) alive, begins.
This was the advice from Mangaliso Mavuso, the Chairperson of the National Laboratory Association of Eswatini, to the Municipal Council of Manzini, after receiving the accreditation from SADCAS.
The chairperson said the journey started about three or four years ago, when he, together with the team, made a trip to the council chambers to meet management and raise awareness on the importance and benefits of accreditation for its conformity assessment section. He said the attitude and interactions already showed them that the council was ready to take this route that had led them to yesterday’s event.
On another note, SADCAS Technical Manager Pinkie Malebe told the municipality that they would undertake periodic surveillance assessments throughout the validity period of the certificate, in order for them to maintain the accreditation. “SADCAS will not hesitate to suspend or even withdraw the certificate if the municipality does not maintain its accreditation and pay the accreditation fees,” she said.
She added that they were aware that the municipality could be conducting other tests that were not included in this accreditation, like fecal chemistry streptococci, fecal coliforms and heterotrophic plate count.
Encouraged
In that regard, she encouraged the municipality to extend its scope of accreditation to the other tests that it was offering and even to other products, such as bottled water. She added that the municipality, among other services, conducted health inspections, grading and licensing for food and non-food establishments.
She said this was an accreditable service and encouraged the council to go for the accreditation of its inspection services to ISO/IEC 17020.
When reacting to this, the Municipal Council of Manzini Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lungile Dlamini, said they would not disappoint in terms of maintaining the accreditation.