The Deputy Minister is correct in saying that this item has been on our agenda every year since 1994-95. It is ridiculous.
I want to restrict my question to the government debt. It is true that billing problems do constitute one of the reasons, but one of the reasons why this debt is not paid by government is simply because the accounting officers are failing to do their job.
You will recall that in Gauteng two years ago there was a court case where the court held that if the MEC did not ensure a payment was made to the municipality promptly by the following week, the MEC would go to jail. That is how angry the litigants were in that case.
Two years ago, I put a question in this House about whether any accounting officers had ever been sanctioned for failure to fulfil their obligation to pay their debts. The answer then was no.
Now I ask if it is not time that somebody takes a harder line with those who are responsible for paying the debts and who fail to do so.