The Public Service Commission has registered 300 grievances, including 112 carried-over from the previous financial year, as at 30 September 2025.
The majority of the 300 grievances related to unfair treatment, refusal to approve an application and performance assessment and salary problems.
“Of the 300 grievances, 151 (50%) have been concluded and 149 remained pending as at end of 30 September 2025,” Public Service Commission (PSC) Commissioner Anele Gxoyiya said.
Addressing the media in Pretoria on Monday, Gxoyiya explained that of the 151 concluded cases, 13 (9%) were substantiated, 37 (25%) were unsubstantiated, four were partially substantiated, 17 (11%) were internally resolved within departments following the PSC’s intervention and the remaining 80 (53%) were closed for various reasons, including those that were also pending before different sectoral bargaining councils, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration or courts.
“Others were withdrawn by the aggrieved employees, whereas others were closed after being resolved by the departments,” he said.
Gxoyiya said the 300 grievances - including the 112 cases carried over from the previous financial year - comprised of 278 for employees on salary levels 2-12 and 22 for members of the Senior Management Service (“SMS members”).
“Of the 278 grievances of employees on salary levels 2 to 12, 144 were concluded, of which 130 (90%) were concluded within 150 working days of receipt by the PSC investigators,” he said.
According to Gxoyiya, of the 22 grievances of SMS members, seven were concluded, of which six (86%) were concluded within 150 working days of receipt by the PSC investigators.
“Poor compliance by departments, with the timeframes prescribed in Resolution 14 of 2002 for grievances of employees on salaries level 2 to 12, and Chapter 10 of the SMS Handbook, continues to be a concern for the PSC,” he said.
According to the National Treasury’s Annual Report on Late Payments of Supplier Invoices for the 2024/25 financial year, the number of invoices paid after 30 days by national departments was 143 245 invoices with the rand value of R6.4 billion as at end of the financial year.
“This indicates a regression of 32% or 34 328 invoices when compared to number of invoices paid after 30 days by national departments in the 2023/24 financial year,” Gxoyiya said.
The National Treasury report indicates the number of invoices older than 30 days and not paid by national departments at the end of March 2025 amounting to 2 437 invoices with a rand value of R381 million.
“National Treasury Instruction No. 34 requires departments to submit 30 days exception reports to the National Treasury,” he said.
Gxoyiya said the 15 national departments that paid all their invoices within 30 days as per legislative requirements and did not record any invoice paid after 30 days nor any outstanding invoices during the period under review.
“This translates to 38% of national departments that complied out of 40 departments,” he said.
The total number of invoices older than 30 days and not paid by the national departments as at the end of the 2024/25 financial year amounted to 2 437 invoices, representing a regression of 1 010 invoices or 71% when compared to the total number of invoices older than 30 days and not paid as at the end of 2023/24 financial year which amounted to 1 427 invoices.
“These departments are the main contributors of late or non-payment of invoices,” Gxoyiya said.
The following are the common reasons provided by national and provincial departments for the late or nonpayment of invoices during the 2024/25 financial year:
- Inadequate budgets and cash blocking;
- Financial system challenges (BAS and LOGIS)
- Central Supplier Database (CSD) challenges
- High accruals from previous financial years
- Disputed invoices with suppliers
- Unresolved SCM-related challenges
- Internal control deficiencies
- Inadequate internal capacity
- Late processing and authorisation of invoices and
- Misfiled, misplaced or unrecorded invoices.
With regard to provinces, Gxoyiya said the non-payment of invoices within 30 days remains a concern to the Commission and that it is a violation of the Public Finance Management Act.
“Consequence management should be instituted against Accounting Officers who fail to pay service providers within 30 days upon receipt of an invoice,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
