South Africa’s state owned tech companies, which fall under the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, owe its suppliers R771 million in unpaid payments.
In a written response to queries from Democratic Alliance MP Hendrik Krüger, Communications Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni revealed the statistic.
In his first question, Kruger asked the minister how many invoices were unpaid by her department and each company reporting to her in the last 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, and 120 days.
In addition, the DA MP wanted to know how much money was owed in each case and when the bills would be paid.
Despite the fact that the minister’s department has no outstanding invoices, practically all of the companies that report to her do.
The South African Post Office (SAPO) was the worst offender, owing R485 million on 196 supplier bills.
What makes matters worse for the postal service is that it is the only organization reporting to the department that does not have the cash to pay any of the overdue invoices.
While the Post Office has devised a new strategy to improve its operational and financial performance, Ntshavheni believes it will need government money to succeed.
In addition, the Post Office has put fourteen of its assets up for auction.
The State IT Agency (SITA), which owed R181.2 million from 210 bills, was the institution with the greatest unpaid amount, aside from SAPO.
Broadband Infraco (BBI), a telecommunications infrastructure company, had the third-largest bill, with R61.53 million owed.
Only the.ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA) had no outstanding bills out of all the institutions reporting to the minister.
