GOVT URGED TO CREATE PROMPT PAYMENT SYSTEM

MBABANE – The business community has encouraged the government to review the way it pays suppliers because as it stands, some of them may still be inclined to increase the prices of their products in lieu of late payment.

The business community was reacting to the recently launched market price reference catalogue for commonly used items produced by the Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ESPPRA). Business Eswatini Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nathi Dlamini said they welcomed the innovative initiative by the Eswatini Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (ESEPARC) and ESPPRA to compile an easy to access new market price reference catalogue for all products produced in Eswatini. He said they believe that it would not only enrich Eswatini Government’s thinking but it would also empower the procurement officers in government to know the ranking of goods. “As a result, we do hope that government will realise a sizeable amount of savings because of the transparency and clearly traceable process of procurement. It is for this reason that as the private sector, we are aligned to the exercise,” he said.

Dlamini said, however, they were also mindful that some suppliers may have from time to time stepped up their prices when pricing goods for government which they did in order to cater for the costs of payment delays. He said suppliers incurred hefty fees with the banks if their overdraft facilities were not set off as agreed and government has always been the main culprit. He said creating a prompt payment system could only benefit both sides. Meanwhile, Johannes Manikela, the Chairperson of the Federation of Eswatini Business Community (FESBC) in the Hhohho Region lamented that as businesses, they were not engaged in the entire process of developing the price catalogue. He said if they were involved in the first place, they would have made significant input towards these issues as they were the ones affected the most as suppliers.

Manikela stated that it was unfair for government to allow them to charge not more than 5 per cent of the market price when supplying government as the cost of goods and services was increasing almost every month. Manikela said they have tried many times to seek an audience with the Ministry of Finance in vain as that was where they would have raised all these issues that were affecting their businesses. It is worth noting that suppliers can only charge 5 per cent more or less than the market price of items that they will be supplying to government and its institutions.

This benchmark was declared by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, when launching the Market Price Reference Catalogue for commonly used items recently. Mancoba Nkambule from ESEPARC explained that the prices in the catalogue included value added tax (VAT), hence suppliers were not supposed to add VAT to the prices. The prices in the catalogue would be revised every two years to ensure that they remained relevant to the market. Nkambule explained that the 5 per cent above and below market price would be scrutinised, hence it was imperative for procurement officers within government departments to stick within the price range in the catalogue.

ESPPRA CEO Vusi Matsebula said they would constantly monitor that public procurement officers use tenders according to the prices listed in the Market Price Reference Catalogue. He highlighted that the Public Procurement System drives the country’s economy and it was through procurement that the government fulfilled its promise to citizens in providing supplies for education, construction, maintenance of infrastructure, health supplies, medical supplies, agricultural supplies as well as security equipment among others.

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