Almost 70% of service providers have been paid following an investigation launched by Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, into the non-payment of invoices within the stipulated 30-day period.
These payments have been made within just four working days.
As of the 22nd of July, the department had 2 084 unpaid invoices. These relate to contractors in areas including Cape Town, Durban, Kimberley, Mmabatho, Mthatha, Polokwane, Tshwane, Johannesburg and Mbombela.
To date, 1 390 have been settled, to the value of more than R102 million. According to the department 694 payments are yet to be processed.
Major construction projects and day-to-day maintenance constituted 94% of all unpaid invoices that had gone beyond 30 days.
Other default areas included telecommunications service providers and car rental agencies.
Much progress has been made since the Minister instituted Consequence and Contract Management Systems last week.
The department is, thus, making inroads following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s warning in his 2018 State of the Nation Address, to pay all outstanding invoices.
Minister de Lille would like to thank officials for complying with her call to settle these accounts.
“I’ve been stressing that we return to the Batho Pele principles which dictate that we put South Africans first. That is exactly what we are doing.
“I will continue to monitor these payments, daily and make available a progress report to all South Africans,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za
