The Health Department in the Eastern Cape failed to pay 2 340 invoices within 30 days – worth a staggering R161.9m – with 48% of all invoices processed in March being paid late, reports Newsday.
In total, provincial departments, which included Transport, the second biggest offender with 1 518 unpaid bills, did not pay 4 096 invoices worth R291.8m on time, according to a statement from Vicky Knoetze, a member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature.
Knoetze slammed the figures, saying the habit places pressure on companies doing business with a province where unemployment has surged to 47.5%, the highest in the country, and which has shed 116 000 jobs in just one year.
“The Eastern Cape cannot afford a government that destroys jobs with one hand while claiming to create them with the other,” she said.
“Against this backdrop, the provincial government should be doing everything in its power to keep businesses operating.
“Instead, it is withholding hundreds of millions of rands from businesses that have already delivered goods and services to the state. For a small business operating on tight margins, an unpaid government invoice can mean the difference between paying salaries and retrenching workers.”
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane acknowledged that delayed payments can result in business closures, job losses, and service withdrawals.
The recurring failures in Health and Transport will now be referred to the Standing Committee of Public Accounts (SCOPA). Knoetze said she would request that the committee call the respective accounting officers and CFOs to account for the failures.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Eastern Cape drug suppliers suspend services over R1bn unpaid bills
Cancer drugs shortage sees Eastern Cape state patients suffer
EC Health Department ordered to pay overdue bills for orthopaedic implants
Eastern Cape Health owes R3bn, causing unpaid contractors to halt services
Not a single rape kit used in Eastern Cape because of ‘shortage’