Red tape drives supplier close to bankruptcy

Father of two forced to downgrade lifestyle due to unpaid invoices

A supplier contracted to a North West provincial department has had to trade in his vehicles and downgrade his lifestyle because of months of unpaid invoices.

The province was cited in the National Treasury’s annual report on non-compliance with the payment of suppliers’ invoices within 30 days, as one of the three-biggest culprits.

Joseph Moroenyane, 49, who does maintenance serhave vices at the hospital - doing plumbing and electrical work mainly for the North West department of health, said he is swimming in a sea of debt.

The father of two said the turnaround time for invoices to be paid within 30 days was an illusion.

“I had to sell my two cars and downgrade to a smaller house because I could not keep up with the instalments and I needed to pay my staff. Things have been tough. I was owed around R550,000 last year and I was sent from pillar to post when I inquired about it. I only received my money after three months,” said Moroenyane.

As a result of the ongoing struggle to have his invoices processed, he has had to seek alternative sources of income to supplement his household income.

“I have two children and a wife. But I have to make sure that I bring something to the table so that they eat. So I help other contractors with small things for that income. We band together because we know we have to support each other,” he said.

“Things were always tough. I to borrow money all the time to be able to complete projects that I qualify for. I don’t even get a lot, maybe six a year and they pay anything between R100,000 to R900,000. My business account is always in arrears and I am always in debt,” said Moroenyane.

He said various forums in the province were created to address the challenges that they have endured for years, but nothing concrete has resulted from the countless meetings between suppliers and government officials.

“My source of money is from loan sharks as well. You will find that there is a lot of red tape involved. Officials will tell you that there is nothing they can do because the issues are with Treasury, you go to Treasury and they make you go back to the department. It’ sa tedious process,” he said.

Kesalopa Gill, the spokesperson for the North West treasury, said the department of health accounts for 98% of the total outstanding invoices.

“To this end, provincial treasury is working with the department of health and has developed an intervention plan to deal with these accruals. The plan is being monitored on a regular basis,” said Gill.