The ANC-led Bhisho government is partly to blame for job losses in the Eastern Cape, ANC provincial chairman Oscar Mabuyane admitted last week.
He was reacting to several Daily Dispatch reports recently on the fact that provincial government departments, in particular education and health, owe local companies more than R400-million for services rendered.
The state has a 30-day turnaround period to pay its service providers, but economic affairs MEC Sakhumzi Somyo, in response to parliamentary questions, revealed that more than 7200 businesses in the province were owed R466-million by provincial departments.
Mabuyane said: “If you do not pay service providers, especially SMMEs you are contributing indirectly to high unemployment.
“These are people who borrowed money from the bank to operate their businesses. You are making that businessman/woman suffer instead.”
Somyo, in a report published two weeks ago, also singled out the roads and public works department as another culprit, with 340 unpaid invoices amounting to more than R10.3-million.
Transport had 141 unpaid invoices valued at R1.9-million; sport, recreation, arts and culture had 84 outstanding payments amounting to R2.9-million; rural development and agrarian reform 57 invoices totalling R1.5-million and social development 59 bills amounting to R14.4-million.
In his latest quarterly labour force survey statistics released in Pretoria last month, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said the Eastern Cape lost 30000 jobs in the last three months of last year.
“We have received reports about SMMEs who had to shed jobs in December because the companies are unable to pay salaries. Some are building our very own schools,” Mabuyane said.
Service providers owed crippling R466m by Bhisho
He was reacting to several Daily Dispatch reports recently on the fact that provincial government departments, in particular education and health, owe local companies more than R400-million for services rendered.
The state has a 30-day turnaround period to pay its service providers, but economic affairs MEC Sakhumzi Somyo, in response to parliamentary questions, revealed that more than 7200 businesses in the province were owed R466-million by provincial departments.
Mabuyane said: “If you do not pay service providers, especially SMMEs you are contributing indirectly to high unemployment.
“These are people who borrowed money from the bank to operate their businesses. You are making that businessman/woman suffer instead.”
Somyo, in a report published two weeks ago, also singled out the roads and public works department as another culprit, with 340 unpaid invoices amounting to more than R10.3-million.
Transport had 141 unpaid invoices valued at R1.9-million; sport, recreation, arts and culture had 84 outstanding payments amounting to R2.9-million; rural development and agrarian reform 57 invoices totalling R1.5-million and social development 59 bills amounting to R14.4-million.
In his latest quarterly labour force survey statistics released in Pretoria last month, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said the Eastern Cape lost 30000 jobs in the last three months of last year.
“We have received reports about SMMEs who had to shed jobs in December because the companies are unable to pay salaries. Some are building our very own schools,” Mabuyane said.
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