The Gauteng Health Department is owed R195 582 000 by other government departments.
This is disclosed in the Department’s 2018/19 Annual Report that was recently tabled in the Gauteng Legislature.
The North West Department of Health owes the most money – R63 million in patient fees, up from R56 million last year.
Patient fees owed by other departments are as follows:
Department of Correctional Services
R31 million
Mpumulanga Department of Health
R27 million
Limpopo Department of Health
R27 million
National Department of Justice
R27 million
South African Police Service
R18 million
S A National Defence Force
R1 million
Unpaid bills by other provinces is a long-standing problem with repeated failed promises to fix it.
The Department of Correctional Services and SAPS are also perennial delinquent payers for medical treatment.
This large-scale financial mismanagement does not bode well for the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) which will fail if government departments can’t pay their bills in good time.