Last week, Smith & Ouzman Ltd welcomed to its premises for the first time, a highly influential group of delegates from the Ministry of Education in Swaziland.

Nick Smith, Sales Director and Warren Sanders, International Sales Manager, for Smith & Ouzman, were present to greet Ms Thembisile Mkoko, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Dr Edmund Mazibuko, Registrar of the Examinations Council of Swaziland, and Mr Bethwel S. Ndlovu, Chief Inspector of Schools, to give them a tour of the factory, and demonstrate the company’s vast range of versatile printing machinery.

Smith & Ouzman was appointed by the Exams Council of Swaziland (ECOS) in 2003 to help rectify the problem of counterfeiting and forging of Examination Certificates in Swaziland. With universities and colleges refusing to accept their existing Certificates due to the rise in forgery, ECOS were faced with a constant challenge. With its sophisticated security printing technology, Smith & Ouzman was able to resolve the problem by printing Certificates which incorporated a number of special security devices including holograms, watermarks and embedded threads, which allowed quick and secure authentication and ensured that the Certificates were genuine.

Smith & Ouzman is now in discussions with ECOS about further enhancing the security of their examinations certificates by adding encrypted barcodes and candidates’ photographs.

Following his visit, Dr Mazibuko commented: “It has been an extremely useful visit to see the innovations that have been made at Smith & Ouzman, and we hope to be able to implement these with photographs and barcodes on our certificates. We’re very pleased that the Principal Secretary has been able to attend the visit, and that we have her support for the future.”

Warren Sanders added: “Further to our recent visit to Swaziland in March we have now also been awarded the contract to print and personalise the Certificates for the University of Swaziland. This is really good news as we are continuing to grow our presence in the Southern African markets.”

Pictured from left to right: Nick Smith, Sales Director for Smith & Ouzman, Mr Bethwel S. Ndlovu, Chief Inspector of Schools, Ms Thembisile Mkoko, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Dr Edmund Mazibuko, Registrar of the Examinations Council of Swaziland and Warren Sanders, International Sales Manager for Smith & Ouzman.