Court tells government departments
TWO government
departments that
failed to pay a TMC
outstanding travel accounts
have been ordered by
the high court to pay the
accounts with interest as
well as costs.
After repeatedly invoicing
Icasa and the KwaZulu
Natal Department of Health
to no avail, Duma Travel saw
no option but to take the
matter to court. “When you
have submitted invoices 10
times and your suppliers
are sitting on your neck,
what do you do?” Themba
Mthombeni, founder and
ceo of Duma asks.
Themba says the accounts
from the two departments
amounted to millions. Duma
has been battling for three
years to get its money
out of the KwaZulu Natal
Department of Health.
The company has a further
three court cases with
non-paying departments
pending.
Themba says the issue of
non-payment by government
departments is a massive
issue in the travel industry,
although people are
reluctant to talk about it for
fear of losing government
business. Non-payment
places immense pressure
on small agencies in
particular, and can destroy
companies, he says. He
points out that the amounts
owed are significant and
banks won’t finance
government debt.
Still, Themba says a
number of departments
are doing the right thing, by
either implementing lodge
cards to better manage
payment, or increasing their
administrative capacity to
pay on time.
