Speaker, Deputy President, over the years many service providers, who do business with government, have incurred great losses due to government's failure to pay them on time. Many of these service providers had to close down their businesses as a result.
There are still travel agencies today that allege that this Parliament has not settled some two-year-old accounts. Many minibus and bus operators that transport children from townships to school have also failed due to lack of finance and late payment by government.
In view of this unacceptable practice, can the Deputy President tell us why service providers to government are paid so late and what has been done to ensure that they are paid promptly as a way to improve the operational efficiency of the state? Thank you.