Govt departments should be more business-like

It was bizarre to see one current parastatal organisation – the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) – going up in court against a former parastatal in which the government still holds a considerable interest (Telkom).

The legal battle was over R16 million in unpaid telecommunication services bills incurred by the Department of Transport and owed to Telkom.

The phone company, in an effort to force payment from the government, suspended the phone services of the corporation.

The problem with this is that the RTMC runs the eNatis traffic information system and the suspension threatened to bring many important parts of the economy, which are reliant on vehicles, to a grinding halt.

Quite correctly, a high court judge stopped that attempt at extortion on the part of Telkom and ordered it to restore services to the RTMC.

We agree that no company should be allowed to hold the country to ransom, as was tried in this case, when a national key point (such as eNatis) is involved.

At the same time, it is disgusting that the Department of Transport did not pay its bills.

Government departments need to be much more business-like – not only in settling their suppliers’ bills, but also in treating us, taxpayers, as customers.

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