Slomoes Corporation hands data management system to EBC
MBABANE – Slomoes Corporation has handed over the elections data management system to the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
Slomoes Corporation was awarded a tender to supply the commission with rentto-buy equipment to hold the 2018 national elections and the commission has actually bought and now fully owns the system.
This was revealed by the commission’s Chairman, Prince Mhlabuhlangene, during a press conference held at Nkhanini, Lobamba, where EBC is headquartered, yesterday.
Prince Mhlabuhlangene explained to the media that the system was intellectual property, which was divided into four modules and these are the registration module, central management interface module, candidates’ module and the elections and results management module.
Handover
Prince Mhlabuhlangene said the purpose of the handover of the system was for the commission to be assured that the system was being transferred to it, as per agreements between it and the contractor and also to prepare for the upcoming national elections that would be conducted this year.
“Slomoes Corporation was the custodian and the vendor of the elections management system, but it is now being transferred to the commission as the owner of the system, having purchased it from the contractor,” he said.
Slomoes Corporation Director Lucky Dlamini confirmed that this marked the end of their five-year contract with EBC and he thanked the commission’s team that worked with the company on the system.
“This is a source code system to enable EBC to edit where they wish to and it is a customised system that was made locally,” he said. When asked on who would run the system going into the 2023 national elections, EBC Head of Communications Mbonisi Bhembe said they were still looking at whether to upgrade the system, get a vendor to run it or even operate it with the commission’s officials who were familiar with it. When asked what would happen to the ongoing case between the commission and Slomoes, now that the latter’s contract had come to an end and they were actually handing over the system, Bhembe said as a commission, they were not entitled to address matters that were in court.
“All matters that are in court must end there and whosoever took the case to court must see it through. The commission is not permitted to respond to issues in court,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prince Mhlabuhlangene took the opportunity to clarify that the commission was an independent body that was not reliant on government to address its issues, but that was entirely their responsibility.
He said there was a tendency to burden government with issues touching on the scope of work of the EBC, which were the elections and anything that had to do with them. “As an independent body that is backed by the Constitution, we have the responsibility to address all matters connected to the elections, not the government. Do not burden government with work that they are not responsible for,” he said.