09 Dec 2013

The ministry of Agriculture has never defaulted in the payment of small stock purchased under the Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID), but experienced challenges that caused some delays in the payment of suppliers.

Answering a question in Parliament on Thursday, the Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Oreeditse Molebatsi said such challenges, which include among others, shortage of trained supplies personnel and the GABS system being down led to a backlog of payments that has however since been cleared in Boteti Sub-district.
Mr Molebatsi further said they have since advertised for supplies personal to clear the backlog.

He said out of the initial 600 suppliers who were not paid, 572 have received their payment and to date only 28 are yet to be paid. Payment vouchers for nine suppliers were submitted to the Accountant General on December 4 for payment while the remaining are being prepared at the District Agricultural Offices. MP for Boteti North, Mr Slumber Tsogwane had asked the minister why his ministry defaulted in the payment of small stock purchased under the LIMID in the Boteti Sub-district. He also wanted to know the number of suppliers who have not been paid to date and when they will be paid. ENDS