The Gauteng Health Department owes suppliers about R4.7bn, some of it dating back to 2017.
While the department said the delays in payments were because its records were destroyed in the 2018 fire at its head office in the Bank of Lisbon Building in Johannesburg, the DA blamed this on incompetence, a News24 report says.
The DA’s spokesperson on health, Jack Bloom, this week said he hoped the newly appointed provincial head of department, Dr Nomonde Nolutshungu, and her team would speed up the payments.
He said Nolutshungu had conceded that the province’s poor record keeping had resulted in the suppliers being owed about R6bn, a figure disputed by the department.
“According to our financial records, the total owing to service providers is R4 722 382,” said provincial health spokesperson Kwara Kekana last week.
Kekana denied that the department was depending on the suppliers to inform them what they were owed.
She said the department verified the suppliers as the financial records were kept in the online SAP system managed by the Gauteng Provincial Treasury.
News24 article – GP health department owes suppliers R4.7 billion dating back to 2017 (Open access)
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