Note to editors: Please find English soundbite by Madeleine Hicklin MPL Spokesperson for Health
Once again, thousands of businesses providing services to the Gauteng Department of Health have been compromised by this department’s inability to pay invoices valued at over R5.1 billion within the stipulated 30-day period in quarter one of the 2025/2026 financial year. This is severely affecting businesses rendering services to the department and solely dependent on the 30-day payment of invoices to pay their employees’ salaries, pay their suppliers, and keep their doors open. This will also affect patients’ access to health care services as the department’s service providers are constrained.
The Gauteng Department of Health paid out R1 621 billion within the stipulated 30-day period and R2 447 billion after 30 days. R2 663 billion was still not paid for a period longer than 30 days.
This information was revealed in a presentation to the Gauteng Finance Portfolio Committee by Public Services Commissioner Vusimuzi Mavuso, who emphasised two worrying tendencies: the first was that there was a decline in the number of invoices paid within 30 days from Quarter 4 of the 2024/2025 financial year to Quarter 1 of the 2025/2026 financial year. This department only paid 38% of its invoices within 30 days according to the 2024/25 Annual Report, revealing that this is not merely a trend but how the Department operates. In the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years the department had similar underperformance paying invoices within the timeframe with 35% and 42% for the respective periods.
See presentation here.
The Gauteng Department of Health is still without a Chief Financial Officer (CFO); however, the post has been advertised following the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) pressure to fill this critical post. This systemic failure to fill critical posts is a major contributing factor to this department’s failure to pay invoices within the stipulated 30-day period.
The DA will monitor the process of hiring the new CFO to ensure that only a competent candidate meeting the requirements is appointed to improve the payment of suppliers.
Until Premier Lesufi ensures that appropriately appointed MECs, CFOs, and Heads of Department are in place, the Gauteng Department of Health will never meet its statutory obligations.
A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would address the systemic challenges of unfilled critical posts in all departments, where suspected corrupt officials will be suspended or placed on special leave pending investigations, which will not take longer than necessary to ensure uninterrupted service delivery. We will also ensure proper monitoring and evaluation processes are applied to comply with good governance practices.