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Patricia de Lille, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure.
Simple assembly, Gallo Images
- Patricia de Lille has asked government departments to pay for the services provided by her department.
- Due to the non-payment, De Lille says his department has incurred an overdraft of R4.2 billion.
- Vice President David Mabuza steps in to help resolve the matter.
Vice President David Mabuza has intervened to get government departments to pay for services provided by the public works department, according to Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille.
De Lille reported to Parliament on Wednesday morning.
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De Lille told the legislature’s public works and infrastructure committee that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) has been fighting to recover the money owed to it.
“We have tried to collect the charges from the users of the departments to the extent that the matter has been settled with the vice president. He will call a meeting between myself and the finance minister, Tito Mboweni, where we will discuss this.
“The Treasury believes that the current system is working, it’s just that we need government departments to change the default culture and pay for services,” De Lille said.
De Lille said every effort is being made to recover billions.
“The vice president was very clear that if we want households to pay for their services, we must lead by example in government. We are working hard to save the situation because we currently have about R4.2 billion in overdraft and the Auditor -General (AG) has also expressed concern.
“We are paying for services, but the departments are not paying us. This is an issue that needs urgent attention and we need a solution as soon as possible,” he said.
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Another problem, De Lille said, is that the little money they recover from user departments also has to fund the administration of DPWI facilities.
“We are currently doing reactive things. To deal with the delays in the maintenance of government buildings, I have asked them to do a bid on time, so that we have service providers on call to take care of any maintenance complaints.
“Without a doubt, every year the Commercial Property Management Entity receives a qualified audit. This year we are heading there again.
“The main reason for this is the real estate registry. The AG shows us that that registry and the way we are determining the value of an asset is not correct. We have not been able to fix that,” he said.
De Lille has asked Parliament to help the department.
DPWI CFO Mandla Sithole said in his presentation to the committee that the average monthly spend is R1.3 billion.
“[The] the average recovery is 60 to 90 days, resulting in R7.2 billion in circulation, “he said.
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