Durban - COMPANIES that supply books and stationery to government schools which receive funds from the Department of Education to buy their own material say they do not have the funds to ensure that schools will receive deliveries in time for classes to start at the beginning of the academic year.
The department says that schools should appoint service providers with the capacity to deliver before receiving payment.
In a letter sent to the Daily News, the suppliers, some of which have been supplying schools for 10 years and more, say the schools are being asked to place orders with suppliers, take delivery and then submit invoices to the department before funds can be deposited into the schools’ accounts.
This means the suppliers would only be paid after they delivered the material to schools.
According to a letter sent to schools, the department expects the schools to have satisfied these requirements before their funds are transferred.
“The suppliers said the change was a deliberate move to frustrate both schools and suppliers so that the department could take over the procurement process to benefit specific companies.
“It seems that the department is determined to let these schools fail in order to take control of the procurement for the benefit of a few individuals,” the letter reads.
The suppliers claim that a proper investigation would reveal the true extent of corruption in the department, which runs into hundreds of millions of rand.
“Basically, the department is asking the suppliers to give them credit. If a supplier delivers to a school, there is no guarantee or rather no way of a supplier verifying that a school is compliant for the Department of Education to release funds to the school’s account.
“If the money is rightfully due to the school, why not pay them? If the school does not comply, hold back the allocation for 2021.”
The service providers, who would not be named for fear of being victimised, called for an urgent solution.
One said he had turned down a number of orders because his company could not afford to deliver supplies without receiving payment on delivery.
“The department is up to no good, and until a proper investigation is conducted, taxpayers’ money will be misused,” he said.
“Schools placed their orders in time, but when confirming delivery they indicated that they were still waiting for funds from the department,” said the supplier.
Department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said supply chain management required that services be delivered before the department could be invoiced.
“The norm is they will be paid within 30 days. Any agreement outside this draws the attention of auditors because it becomes an audit query,” he said.
Mahlambi said schools operated on a three quotation basis and selection was done from three invited quotes.
“It’s our view that service providers with capacity are selected for the job,” he said.