MBABANE – Was it a jackpot?
Minister of Housing and Urban Development Prince Simelane had a tough time explaining a E12 million elections tender awarded to Slomoes Corporation for the municipal council elections. The company was awarded a tender worth E12 million to provide a system for the local government election exercise. The tender award has attracted the wrath of Members of Parliament (MPs), who took the minister to task, demanding answers on how the tender was awarded and why it was given to the most expensive bidder. Universal and standard procurement procedures dictate that the bidder with a lowest offer is usually awarded the tender. The company was awarded the tender ahead of the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) which had offered to do the exercise, for E800 000. Another company which the minister identified as Wits Tech also made a bid for the tender with a cost of E1.2 million. It has been established that the tendering process takes into account two components – technical aspect which determines capacity, execution timelines and quality. The second aspect looks at pricing.
It is said that the technical aspect in a tender usually accounts for 70 per cent and the balance (30 per cent) is for pricing. The MPs questioned Minister Simelane on why the municipal elections were expensive yet the voter turnout was not huge enough. Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini said the local government elections were proving to be too expensive for the nation.
He said the minister proved to have powers to sack municipal councils and, therefore, the local government election was a waste of money.
introspect
Dlamini called for the election to be postponed and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to introspect and find reasons for such amount to be spent on elections. “The minister has proven that he can do anything and even fire the councils. My question then becomes the reason for government to host such an expensive exercise if the minister has such power. E12 million is too much. Minister even I can host the elections for way too cheaper than that. This election is proving to be too expensive for government and I intend to move a motion to stop this if the minister fails to give us valid reasons why the system to host the election cost this amount. When I heard other MPs say the figure I thought it was a joke. We cannot spend this much on this,” said Dlamini. He further asked the minister if the procurement procedure was followed when awarding the tender. Dlamini elaborated on how the minister was addressing conflicts within the councils and blamed him for firing members of councils. He further said the country should consider shelving the elections because they were disturbing the national elections and shadowing it with such scandals.
sham
“The King spoke in this chamber and said the country will be going to the polls and now I do not understand what we are doing clouding the national elections with such a sham. I believe it is time we make a decision on which one we should listen to. This is just a disturbance and should be put on pause at least until after the national elections. We cannot spend this much money on an election process that has such a small voter registration,” he said. MP Malavi Sihlongonyane also weighed in on the matter and said the House should consider moving a motion on the matter. “I am not even part of this committee, but I wanted to have a say on the E12 million issues because I believe it should be addressed and the people be saved from spending such exorbitant funds. The minister should give clarity on why the elections are so expensive. I am happy that other MPs have also addressed the matter,” said Sihlongonyane.
Minister Simelane had a challengeresponding to the concerns raised by the MPs. He had to consult some of the staff from the ministry for clarity in his response.
recommendations
“Allow chairman to try and respond first on what MP Lutfo Dlamini has just asked and opined on. The MP is asking about E12 million and in my knowledge, as government we called for three quotations and the officials submitted them to me and further made recommendations as per the procurement plan. One of the three quotations was for E800 000 and came from the RSTP which is government. What I know is that the procedure was followed but after everything was done I then asked if the one who has been doing election had not tendered because we have not heard anything bad since he did the elections,” said the minister. One of the concerns raised by the legislators was that the population voting for the local government elections did not exceed 30 000 and the E12 million was too much of a cost. Slomoes Corporation was not contacted for a comment due to parliamentary privilege as the matter is yet to be deliberated inside the two Parliament Chambers, House of Assembly and Senate. Sources within the local government elections revealed that the system required by the ministry to run the elections was a complicated one. The sources said the system required needed to be able to link candidates with different ministries to retrieve their identities.
components
“The system is not similar to the national elections system which was linked to the Ministry of Home Affairs where the department of Civic Registration provides computed information on voters. This one needs to link even with the municipal councils to retrieve plot numbers and reflect other key components of the voters and candidates,” said the source. The source revealed that this could be the reason the bidding by Slomoes was higher. He said the company had done elections before and, therefore, had first hand information on the magnitude of work required to host such a system. The sources further said the ministry, in its decision, possibly considered the status of RSTP as a government company and the second bidder was probably lacking in experience. It is worth mentioning that Slomoes Corporation handled the 2018 National Elections under a rent-to-buy deal with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC). The company has since handed over the elections data management system to the commission.
The EBC has actually bought and now fully owns the system after it was handed over to it last month. The commission’s Chairperson, Prince Mhlabuhlangene, during a press conference held at Nkhanini, Lobamba, where EBC is headquartered, explained that the system was an intellectual property, which was divided into four modules. He said these were the registration, central management interface, candidates’ and the elections and results management modules. 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 them and the contractor and also to prepare for the upcoming national elections that would be conducted this year.
transferred
“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. 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 are familiar with it. Slomoes Corporation was also involved in a court fight against EBC. However, both parties settled their dispute in arbitration in terms with the contract. The final outcome of the arbitration was made an order of the court, after they had both embraced the outcome. Slomoes was paid a final settlement in excess of E10 million.
Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg, in January 2023, announced a budget of E8 million for the local government elections. The minister said the budget had already been drawn and was presented to the ministry. Rijkenberg said a supplementary budget was passed through the ministry’s Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC) and went through the Parliament Sessional Committee (PSC) for consideration and approval.
trained
Municipal councils going for the elections include Mbabane, Ezulwini, Hlatikhulu, Ngwenya, Nhlangano, and Pigg’s Peak and Manzini, among others. Thirty-nine registration supervisors and 250 officers were trained and posted in various stations according to inside sources. To be eligible to register and vote, a person needs to own property, land, and a business for a period of at least six months. The rules also reflect that for a voter to be registered, he or she should be a native of the country. The rules further dictate that a person should physically be present and bring a national identification proof, title deeds for those owning land in towns and proof of registered businesses, period in the municipality, status and a ward number.
