Question NW1227 to the Minister of Higher Education and Training
24 May 2018 - NW1227
Van der Westhuizen, Mr AP to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training
(1)What is the age analysis of the current debt owed to the SA Qualifications Authority (SAQA) by each government department and public entity; (2) what amounts, owed to SAQA by government departments and public entities, have been written off in the past five years; (3)(a) what steps will be taken to recover current and old debts and (b) what steps is she going to take to intervene and engage with her Cabinet colleagues in order to resolve any issues that may exist in this regard?
Reply:
The South African Qualifications Authority has provided the following responses to the questions posed.
1. The age analysis of debt owed to the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) by government departments and public entities are as follows:
|
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/17 |
2016/17 |
2017/18 |
|
R 1 962 887.89 |
R 1 514 376.91 |
R 5 468 158.41 |
R 4 920 197.92 |
R 6 139 231.59 |
2. No amounts of debt in this regard have been written off over the past five years.
3. (a) SAQA commenced with a process to suspend verification services to clients that have outstanding debt for longer than 30 days. The emphasis is firstly on those clients that owe the entity the largest amounts with the longest outstanding period. This process will gradually be phased-in to include all outstanding debtors. The SAQA Debt Policy was also amended for implementation during the 2018/19 financial year, to allow for outstanding debt to be handed over to a collection agency.
(b) The steps taken by SAQA to recover the debt are satisfactory. The matter will be monitored and should a need for further intervention arise, additional measures will be considered.