Question NW3576 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services

Reply:

In response to the question on unpaid invoices, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD), National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Legal Aid South Africa, and Special Investigating Unit (SIU)have informed me as follows:

A. DoJ&CD:

a) For the reporting period ended on 30 October 2017, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development had 22 valid invoices outstanding (Not paid within 30 days) broken down as follows:

a) 30 days: 5 invoices

b) 60 days: 6 invoices

c) 90 days: 1 invoice

d) 120 days: 10 Invoices

b) The total value of the above invoices is R15,816.82 broken down as follows:

aa) 30 days: R2 322.94

bb) 60 days: R2 672.94

cc) 90 days: R422.94

dd) 120 days: R10 398.00

B. Legal Aid SA:

a) The total number of invoices that are unpaid as at 3 November 2017 for Trade and Judicare Suppliers (private lawyers) are reflected according to ageing in Table 1 below:

Table 1:

Number of Invoices
Ageing	Trade	Judicare	Total
30	11	39.3%	25	49.0%	36	45.6%
60	0	0.0%	3	5.9%	3	3.8%
90	1	3.6%	12	23.5%	13	16.5%
120	2	7.1%	1	2.0%	3	3.8%
120+	14	50.0%	10	19.6%	24	30.4%
	28	100.0%	51	100.0%	79	100.0%

b) The total value of unpaid invoices for Trade Suppliers and Judicare Suppliers as at 3 November 2017, in the different ageing categories, are reflected in Table 2 below:

Table 2:

Value of Invoices in Rands
Ageing	Trade	Judicare	Total
30	113,407	75.0%	354,670	67.3%	468,077	69.0%
60	0	0.0%	22,325	4.2%	22,325	3.3%
90	34,325	22.7%	83,949	15.9%	118,274	17.4%
120	225	0.1%	1,798	0.3%	2,023	0.3%
120+	3,202	2.1%	64,011	12.2%	67,213	9.9%
	151,158	100.0%	526,753	100.0%	677,911	100.0%

It should be noted that invoices that are unpaid for longer than 30 days are as a result of queries that need to be resolved by the supplier. In the main, the banking details of affected suppliers are incorrect and thus payments are rejected. Legal Aid SA is still awaiting appropriate responses from the suppliers.

C) SIU:

The SIU did an analysis of all invoices outstanding at the end of 30 September 2017 which was the last reporting date of the entity before the question from the National Assembly.

The table below reflects the ageing of supplier balances at reporting date:

Comments:

The SIU had a total outstanding balance to suppliers of R9,1 million at the end of September 2017 of which 77% was outstanding for 30 days or less. The remaining balance of 23% is mainly due to the following factors:

1. R700K – Dispute with landlord on water and lights billing without apportionment of costs on tenant shared premises using meter reading as per contractual agreement. All the invoices outstanding for 62 days and more are related to this supplier. Lease rental costs are settled monthly except for the disputed amount. The SIU is in the process of resolving the issue with the landlord.
2. R900K – One invoice due to a service provider who supplied the SIU with technical equipment that were going through testing. The invoice was settled in October 2017.
3. The balance is mainly made up of supplier of travel management services where third party invoices / statement were outstanding for payment. The SIU has an arrangement with the supplier that invoices will only be settled when presented with third party invoices, e.g. invoices from car rental companies, and a statement of account.

D. NPA

a) The NPA has paid 99.5% of all creditors within 30 days during the 2016/17 financial year. The remaining 0.5% relates to disputed invoices.

b) As at the end of October 2017, the NPA had 12 invoices amounting to R97 512.38 that were outstanding for a period of more than 30 days. Below are the details of the relevant invoices:

NO.	PAYEE NAME	AMOUNT	NO. OF DAYS	COMMENT
	BCD TRAVEL	R568,40	146	DISPUTED
	BCD TRAVEL	R568,40	140	DISPUTED
	SEBTECH TECHNOLOGIES	R1 431,83	85	DISPUTED
	SEBTECH TECHNOLOGIES	R1 431,83	65	DISPUTED
	FACCT FORENSIC CONSULTING	R76 772,16	55	DISPUTED
	SCHUTTE JHT	R250,00	50	DISPUTED
	MULTI CHOICE AFRICA (PTY) LTD	R274,00	49	DISPUTED
	DELOITTE TIP-OFFS ANONYMOUS	R14 345,76	46	DISPUTED
	ELLIS DJ	R650,00	45	DISPUTED
	FERREIRA S	R109,00	41	DISPUTED
	LANDMAN L	R411,00	32	DISPUTED
	SANDAN MM	R700,00	31	DISPUTED
		R97 512,38