A team from the North West Department of Health, led by Administrator Jeanette Hunter, on Wednesday raided offices of the Mmabatho Medical Depot and uncovered unpaid invoices of 50 companies, worth millions.
Some of the unpaid invoices dates back to 2014.
When the Administrator’s team arrived at the department in 2018, the stock level of essential medicine was at 64% and it was improved to about 85% through the intervention.
However, the level started dropping in the beginning of the year and some companies stopped delivering medicines in March 2020 citing non payment of invoices.
The stock levels did not change despite money being made available in April 2020. The department then received technical assistance to speed up payment of suppliers.
Through the intervention, it has come to the attention of the department that a number of invoices were missing.
The Medical Depot could not pay companies as invoices were missing. As a result, companies stopped supplying medication which has affected stock level at the medical depot.
A decision was then taken to raid the offices and block the workers from accessing the depot. The search, which uncovered a number of unpaid invoices, continues.
One unpaid invoice that was found at the Medical Depot in a drawer was worth more than R16 million.
The department confirms that all the invoices will be verified before payment can be processed.
“We owe companies who are the suppliers. As a result, we are unable to get enough supply of medicine from the same companies because we owe them.
“There are people who are employed to process invoices by the Provincial Government and they are not doing their job. This technically leads to unavailability of medicine in the medical depot,” said North West Health MEC Madoda Sambatha.
“The raid now provides the management of the department led by the Administrator to work out a plan on how to catch up with payment of suppliers. This will lead to improved availability of medicine which will then be delivered to clinics and hospitals, where they are needed the most.
“It breaks my heart to know that there are people in the department who decide to withhold payment of medicine which should be assisting our parents, family members and communities at large. It’s treasonous and the situation has to be corrected,” he said.
MEC Sambatha said he has noted with dismay that whenever a decision is made to correct the situation at the Medical Depot an anonymous letter always surfaces.
Four managers, two from the Medical Depot and another two from the provincial office in Mahikeng have been put on precautionary suspension, following alleged mismanagement involving expired medication.
A plan to improve delivery timelines and turnaround has been put in place. It involves direct deliveries of medication to hospitals while the Medical Depot will now deliver directly to clinics.
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