The DA in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is alarmed by growing allegations that contractors, engaged by the province’s Department of Transport (DoT), are not being paid for services rendered.
This despite the department’s significantly increased 2025/26 budget of R13.827billion – a 6.2% increase compared to the adjusted 2024/25 appropriation.
The DA demands;
• A full disclosure from Transport MEC, Siboniso Duma, regarding the total value of 2024/25 unpaid invoices and clarity on how the department plans to settle these in 2025/26
• A full breakdown of all unpaid contractors from the 2024/25 financial year and the reasons thereof
• A timeline of when affected contractors can expect payments
• Immediate steps within the DoT to ensure transparent and timely processing of contractor payments going forward
• Ringfencing or conditional release of infrastructure and maintenance grant funds until the DoT provides a clear debt settlement plan and payment timeline and;
• Clarity on whether non-payments will impact service delivery and infrastructure roll-outs during the current year.
The situation comes as KZN government department budget hearings take place in the provincial Legislature this week, with the DoT budget report due to be heard today.
The DA’s analysis of the DoT’s 2025/26 budget and Annual Performance Plan (APP) reveals troubling signs:
• The department’s infrastructure programme has been allocated a substantial R9.2billion, with R4.3billion earmarked for maintenance and R3.8 billion for construction. This highlights a mismatch between budget allocation and actual service delivery, particularly if contractors are not being paid or projects are not progressing as intended. It also raises the question: Where is the money going, if not to those doing the work?
• The APP and budget reports make repeated references to prior-year unpaid invoices, specifically noting a spike in expenditure during Quarter One of 2024/25, which was attributed to late payments from the previous year
• The department’s over-expenditure in that period – R404 million instead of the projected R213million – raises red flags regarding financial planning and invoice processing systems
• The DoT’s 2025/26 budget makes no clear provision or explanation for settling these outstanding contractor payments, and the progress on disbursing 2024/25 invoices remains unclear and;
• The department’s APP fails to include quarterly performance indicators in several programmes, making it difficult for KZN’s Transport portfolio committee to effectively monitor financial commitments, particularly those related to service delivery and contractor payments.
The DoT’s failure to honour contractor payments has a devastating impact, not only on small businesses and emerging contractors but also on job creation and community development, key pillars of its own mandate.
The ripple effect of non-payments not only affects businesses – it affects workers, their families and local economies – this despite a massive DoT budget supposedly available. The situation further exposes the contradiction between the department’s claims of investment and contractors’ claims of non-payment.
As a member of KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), the DA will not only expose inefficiency, we will ensure corrective action is taken swiftly and transparently. The DA remains committed to using its GPU seat to uphold fiscal discipline, protect service providers from abuse and safeguard the integrity of provincial service delivery mechanisms.