The Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg has cautioned government suppliers to always ensure that they receive government orders before supplying government.
The Minister was speaking yesterday during the inaugural business-to-government engagement held at Emafini Lodge.
Rijkenberg responding to a concern raised by the business community on why the government always pays suppliers late stated that several factors lead to this unfortunate situation.
“What we have noted is that sometimes Ministries spend out of budget and do not issue government orders. In simple terms, if you aren’t being issued with a government order as a supplier it means there isn’t a budget in the background. If you then supply the government without an order be rest assured that your payment will be delayed because that respective ministry will still be looking for a way to finance that job.”
“As the government, we are trying our level best to put the controls in place to ensure that ministries do not overspend because that is where the non-payment to suppliers takes place.”
On a positive note, however, the Minister disclosed that the government is currently making payments to suppliers which commenced yesterday.
“Strangely enough as of today (yesterday) payments to the value of E500 million are being made to government suppliers. These are payments which have accrued over the past quarter, as we make payments to suppliers whenever we receive SACU payments, which is quarterly.”
The Minister further stated that what exacerbated the situation in this cycle was the delayed payment from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). He said the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) has, however, informed them that the payment should come through at the end of April 2024.