Dying diggers of Namaqualand need saving
| by Andrew Louw, MPL – DA Northern Cape Provincial Leader |
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| Date: 14 May 2020 |
| Release: Immediate |
| Outstanding debt owed to service providers by the Northern Cape Department of Health is crippling local businesses which, during this devastating lockdown, are in dire need of cash to keep head above water.While the Democratic Alliance has already called on Premier Zamani Saul to ensure that provincial government pays all outstanding debt to Small Medium and Macro Enterprises (SMMES), we are aggrieved to learn that our plea has, to a large extent, been ignored.One such instance relates to the non-payment by the Health Department of the Charis Guesthouse in Hartswater, for accommodation provided way back in February 2019. The accommodation, to the value of about R83 000, was secured by the department for government doctors doing locums at the Connie Vorster Hospital. Despite numerous follow-ups and back and forth discussions between guesthouse owner, Gerda Grabe, the various health offices from the district office to the Connie Vorster Hospital to the Human Resource unit at head office in Kimberley, have come to nothing. Even a lawyer’s letter to the health department fell on deaf ears and was returned to the law firm, unopened.Meanwhile, Grabe has had to take out a loan to pay her debt and buy food. She is being charged interest on the loan and has no more capital to fall back on. She is in financial distress and desperately needs the Health Department to pay her.The situation is unfair. The doctors whom Grabe accommodated are receiving full pay, plus rural allowance, yet she receives nothing.We know that the financially bankrupt health department is a regular offender in terms of accruals, which are in effect late payments that are only processed in the financial year after which the actual service was provided. The department’s own mismanagement of its budget, however, can never be an excuse for submerging businesses into a state of bankruptcy.Government is meant to pay service providers within 30 days of receiving their invoices. By failing to do so, government threatens the survival of businesses, the livelihoods of individuals and the local economic growth that government is meant to be pursuing.The DA has sent letters to MEC of Health, Mase Manopole, as well as Premier Zamani Saul, appealing to them to urgently assist Grabe to receive her dues.Next week, the provincial Health Department, via a virtual meeting with the legislature portfolio committee, will present its reprioritized budget. The DA will utilize this platform in an effort to ensure that, amidst Covid-19 preparedness, the payment of outstanding payments don’t fall by the wayside.Protecting livelihoods, is a key component in protecting lives and given that it is the health departments prerogative to save lives, they have the responsibility to do both. |
| Media Enquiries |
| Andrew Louw, MPLDA Northern Cape Provincial Leader082 383 6914 Shelley De WittResearcher082 847 1387 |
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