Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille has launched an investigation into the failure of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) to pay its service providers within 30 days.

The Minister is also overseeing the implementation of a Contract Management System, together with a Consequence Management System within the DPWI to keep track of payments.

De Lille warned that there would be consequences for individuals who failed to comply with what was a legal requirement.

As of July 22, the DPWI had 2 085 invoices that had not been paid within the stipulated 30-day period, with facilities management accounting for about 80% of invoices older than 30 days.

Facilities management relates to day-to-day, unplanned maintenance carried out on department buildings, while a Works Control System is used to manage projects. It deals with major construction projects and includes both contractors and consultants.

These, coupled with day-to-day maintenance, “are at the core of the department” and, together, constitute 94% of the unpaid invoices that have gone beyond 30 days.

Other default areas pertained to telecommunications service providers and car rental agencies, the department said in a statement last week.

Several reasons, including processes not complying with supply chain management requirements, concerns with verification and certification of work done, as well as late submissions of quotations, have been given for these delays.

According to the statement, De Lille believes this is “unacceptable, particularly at a time when the economy needs strengthening and job creation is key”.

The statement also referenced President Cyril Ramaphosa’s reply in the State of the Nation Address debate in February 2018, in which he stressed that the “frustration that these entrepreneurs have to endure at the hands of the very State that is supposed to assist them is a matter of great concern” and that failure “to pay suppliers within 30 days has a devastating impact on small and medium-sized businesses”.