A letter pleading for overdue payment for services provided

Sankwela Mosikidi, KFC Mini Cricket coordinator, writes that it has been over ten months since service providers delivered on their obligations but are yet to be paid.

Last year, the North West Cricket and J.B. Marks Municipality took the initiative to promote the game of cricket in Tshing Location, Ventersdorp and established a hard ball structure on 16 June 2022 as a Youth Day celebration.

Sixty children involved in the KFC mini cricket in the Ventersdorp vicinity were transported to Tshing sports ground. Breakfast and lunch were served for all 60 children, 20 coaches, 24 players and 15 officials.

Mabogo Dinku, a catering service provider, was responsible for catering for these 119 people, while ‘Don’t get left behind’, a transport company, transported learners from Makokraal (Thuka Primary School), Klippaatdrift (Rabana Primary), Welgevonde Primary, Goedgevonde (Tshirologo Primary) Toevlug Primary and Letshelemane Primary.

I, Sankwela Mosikdi, was requested by the acting CEO of North West Cricket, Ismael Minty to get three quotations each for food and transport. Ismael Minty and Nation Ntlame, KFC Mini-Cricket provincial coordinator, told me the Youth Day celebration was initiated by the J.B. Marks Municipality, specifically, the MMC of Sport Arts and Culture Patricia Mtshali, and that the municipality would cover all costs of food and transport.

When everything was done, I spoke to municipal officials about the payment several times. They said they would not pay because they had people to provide the services. I asked Mr Minty and Mr Motlhabane, the president of North West Cricket, to intervene several times. Whenever they ask them [the municipality] to pay, they play games by requesting invoices but are yet to pay.

My issue is that the service providers want their money from me while I struggle to get the municipality to pay. This is my last resort, and I hope it will help us.

The acting municipal spokesperson, Jeanette Tshite, says the municipality acknowledges that the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (SAC), in collaboration with North West Cricket, had had a meeting and agreed to host the KFC Cricket Games in the Ventersdorp region.

“There is a good working relationship between the two institutions, as they partnered in numerous events that were hosted by the Federation in our City over many years,” Tshite said.

“Concerning this specific case, there seems to be a misunderstanding as the Federation was informed that procurement would only be done by the municipality and would be strictly subjected to internal supply chain processes as guided by regulations of the Municipal Finance Management Act,” she explained.

Tshite added that part of the supply chain management processes is that the municipality, through the supply chain, would solicit quotations, issue orders and then make payments. “That follows after a required service or goods have been rendered. The alleged unpaid services were sourced outside the supply chain processes and regulations, hence the municipality declined to process payments,” Tshite clarified.

She concluded that the J.B. Marks Local Municipality, through the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, is pursuing an amicable way to resolve the issue as procurement of this service was not done according to supply chain regulations.