Dear Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA),

I am writing on behalf of a private medical practice in Johannesburg and I am hopeful that you can possibbly assist. We provide medical prosthetic devices to amputees. Some of our patients are RAF claimants. These patients are from all walks of life, mothers, fathers and many children.

Our prosthetic devices give them back their independence and in most cases the opportunity to return to work and earn an income. These patients also look to us to keep them functional by maintaining their prosthetic devices, as they have a lifespan and needs to be repaired periodically. Unfortunately, we have many outstanding accounts that have not been paid by the RAF, which leaves us as a service provider in the lurch.

We can not continue servicing patients for free as we ourselves have to pay our suppliers in 30 days. This in turn has a negative affect on the patients as we simply do not have the cash flow to sustain this.

We keep submitting invoices to the RAF, some of these are over 9 months old. Senior officials keep making promises, but with no results. We simply do not get any response from their invoice department.

Is there any way that you can assist in this matter?

Really appreciate your assistance.
Kind regards,