KZN Health sitting with 3,000 unpaid invoices - Ntuli
The premier says KwaZulu-Natal Health is
sitting with a backlog of over 3,300 unpaid invoices owed to service providers.
Thami Ntuli said the majority of them have not been paid for as long as 30 days.
He said frustrated service providers barricaded the Health Department's offices in protest over payment delays on Monday.
"No dispute should be resolved through violence in KwaZulu-Natal. We live in a constitutional democracy, and we must always use legal avenues to settle our disagreements," said Ntuli.
"Even my office is available when in departments, the citizens of the province are experiencing challenges. I'm able to intervene. I have the authority to intervene and assist in resolving the problem."
KZN Education has also been struggling with payment delays.
READ: Unpaid KZN school nutrition suppliers unconvinced
The department has acknowledged that just over 70% of its payments to service providers have been processed, blaming technical issues for the delays.
Ntuli spoke during a media briefing on key governance issues and service delivery challenges in the province on Wednesday.
He said the issue is not due to budget constraints.
"These lists have been shared with district offices to ensure that the affected service providers are kept informed and that no further disruptions occur in the provision of meals to learners.
"We can also state that this has nothing to do with the financial difficulties of the department, as the NSNP is paid from the grant allocation."
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