The 2020/21 annual report on non-compliance with payment of suppliers’ invoices within 30 days shows that national departments achieved an annual average timeous submission rate of 73% during the financial year.

“This represents a regression when compared to the annual average timeous submission rate of 85% achieved in the 2019/20 financial year,” National Treasury said on Thursday.

There was an improvement in the number of invoices paid after 30 days and the number of invoices older than 30 days and not paid when comparing the 2020/2021 financial year to the 2019/2020 financial year amid the restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These numbers however, remain very high at a provincial level,” the National Treasury said.

In the 2020/2021 financial year, the National Treasury established a centralized 30 days’ queries email (30daysqueries@treasury.gov.za) where suppliers can log their non-payment queries with the National Treasury.

“The National Treasury assists suppliers by following up with transgressing Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) institutions on those late and/or non-payments of invoices and responds to the suppliers on (i) reasons for the delay and (ii) date payment will be effected. Evidence of payment is crucial to ensure that the process is complete and closed.

“In monitoring progress on payment of supplier’s invoices within the prescribed period, the National Treasury issued a Treasury Instruction Note Number 34, which requires departments to submit 30 days’ exception reports to the relevant treasuries by the 7th day of each month with information in respect of the preceding month.

“Information relating to the number and value of invoices paid after 30 days from the date of receiving invoices; the number and value of invoices that are older than 30 days, which remained unpaid; and the reasons for the late and/or non-payment of the invoices are required from departments,” National Treasury said.

Treasury Instruction Note Number 34 requires departments to implement manual or electronic systems and processes that will enable departments to track invoices from the time they are received at the relevant cost centres to the time that a payment is made.

More in-depth information can be sourced from the Annual Report on the National Treasury website www.treasury.gov.za.

Source: South African Government News Agency