Question NW289 to the Minister of Finance
19 February 2021 - NW289
George, Dr DT to ask the Minister of Finance
With reference to the 2019-20 Annual Report of the Financial Intelligence Centre, what were the reasons (a) for the internal delays in processing payments that caused the Financial Intelligence Centre not to meet its obligation to pay invoices within 30 days and (b) that one verbal warning and five written warnings were issued to employees?
Reply:
(a) Internal delays in the payment of invoices resulted mostly from the following:
- Suppliers often send invoices directly to business units instead of directly to the Finance business unit (Finance) which is responsible for payment. This results in a delay in the processing of invoices and the subsequent late payment.
- There are incidents where relevant documentation is not timeously approved or submitted to Finance, resulting in Finance having to follow up on the status of the documentation which subsequently results in undue delays.
- These internal inefficiencies have been identified and addressed and although not fully eradicated, the results have been improving. The FIC is committed to achieving and maintaining 100% compliance to the target.
(b) The reasons were extended to the relevant employees.