By Sifiso Dlamini | 2023-07-01

In a last ditch attempt to prevent the national elections from descending into chaos, parliamentarians have directed government and the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to recall the elections system procurer, Slomoes Corporation.

The legislators are of the view that in order to address the anomalies that have since surfaced during the on-going voters roll validation exercise, where names of hundreds of people who registered for the elections have been discovered to be omitted.

Some of the frustrated registered voters have revealed that they discovered names of deceased persons and minors included in the voters roll.

This follows a heated debate during the House of Assembly sitting on Thursday, where Members of Parliament directed Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Pholile Shakantu to start the registration process from scratch and issue voter registration cards to inspire confidence among the electorate.

MPs and senators have resolved that in order to prevent chaos during the elections process, government and the EBC should recall Slomoes Corporation, which is the company that was awarded the tender to procure the system during the 2018 elections.

The glitches within the system, which have seen some voters appearing in different constituency lists instead of the ones they have registered to vote under, have prompted the intervention of the ministry of justice and constitutional affairs House of Assembly portfolio committee.  

The committee has recommended the engagement of the system procurer Slomoes Corporation to address the issue, as some registered voters could end up being turned away due to the mix up of their registration details.

In an attempt to salvage the situation, the portfolio committee has recommended that the four parties, being government, EBC, Sionary Investments and Slomoes Corporation should come together to  address the challenge.

Justice Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Kwaluseni MP Sibusiso Mabhanisi Dlamini said as a committee, they convened to deliberate on the communication from Senate on the Elections (Amendment) Bill and the Voter Registration (Amendment) Bill.

Dlamini pointed out that the on-going voters’ validation exercise had unearthed some issues which threaten to compromise the national elections.

There have been reports that some people have discovered that there is a glitch with the registration system, as some people have discovered that the system did not capture their details correctly.

“For instance, there are some people who have discovered that their names appeared in other constituencies and not their own or the ones they registered to vote under,” said Dlamini.

He stated that while taking the challenges into consideration, as a committee, they acknowledged that most Emaswati who have registered and interested in voting were the elderly who are not even aware of what the voters roll validation entails.

concerns
Dlamini revealed that this was communicated to the committee by one of their colleagues, who said when he validated his details; it appeared in the voters roll that he was registered under another Inkhundla centre, which raised concerns.

“This has not been the case in the past and we have resolved that in order to avoid disruption of the elections, something must be done while there is still time,” he said.

Explaining, Dlamini said as the committee they foresaw that this might cause chaos during elections day, where some voters would be frustrated by the inefficiency of the system and the mix up of their details, which could escalate into violence.

The committee resolved that in order to prevent throwing the elections into disarray, government, and the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) should recall Slomoes Corporation and engage the new contractor, Sionary Investments and look at how they could salvage the situation.

“We have resolved that in order to ensure that the elections are run smoothly, these four stakeholders should work together to avoid foreseen challenges while time permits,” said Dlamini.
He further stated that these were not minor glitches be ignored and the previous contractor, Slomoes Corporation which procured the system should be roped in to assist in setting up the system and addressing the challenges.

The committee further acknowledged that this should be dealt with promptly and granted the urgency it deserved because they envisaged that the three weeks provided for the voters roll validation process could descend into chaos thus disrupting the elections.

Dlamini said it was critical for all parties involved to examine where the problem is with the system. He said as a committee, they did not want to interfere with the process but were interested in ensuring that the elections were a success, fair and credible.

“We are only interested in correcting the issue at hand before this process descends into chaos. As a country, we do not need this,” he said.

The chairperson further said the newly-implemented requirement for validation was also a financial strain on the voters, yet this could be addressed.

The committee also deliberated on the communication from senate on the Elections Amendment Bill. One of the key issues that were deliberated on was the elections of Bucopho into office.

The consensus from both houses was that elections for Bucopho and Tindvuna teTinkhundla will now be conducted during the secondary elections together with the Members of Parliament.

The aim is to avoid situations where some MPs complained that in the past, they were de-campaigned by some Bucopho, who were normally elected into office during primary elections.
It was also agreed upon that as per Standing Orders, presiding officers, being the speaker and Senate President, will not assume duties before they were presented and blessed by His Majesty the King.

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