Clarity on scholar transport payment process

The Eastern Cape Department of Transport would like to specify that it has a contract with One Future Development 46 and not with individual taxi or bus operators to deliver scholar transport services.

With regard to the payment process, in order to be paid, individual transport operators that are participating in the Scholar Transport Programme must submit correctly completed Proof of Delivery forms (PODs) to the offices of the One Future Development 46 (OFD46) in Mthatha.

In Mthatha the PODs are checked and then submitted to the Department of Transport’s service provider to capture the PODs into a database, these PODs are then checked again by the department’s officials and correct PODs are signed off. 

Any PODs with problems on are referred back to OFD46 for correction or to submit a dispute form on the POD. These PODs are then referred to a Dispute Resolution Committee that sits weekly to decide on the PODs. Once a whole batch of PODs are correct and captured, the POD’s are used to generate an invoice which is submitted to the department for payment.

The department processes the invoice for payment and the actual payment is then done. It must be noted that funds are released by Provincial Treasury on a Friday, on average three times per month. If the payment is released on a Friday, it appears in the beneficiary’s bank account on the following Wednesday, in this case the bank account of OFD46. 

OFD46 is then responsible to distribute the funds to their individual members. These members have to be registered per vehicle, route and school so that it could be determined how much each beneficiary has to be paid. 

It must also be noted that the department pays for services rendered under the Scholar Transport Programme on a monthly basis. The operators have only started operating on 18 July 2011, so theoretically payment is only processed after 18 August 2011. After receipt of a correct invoice, not a POD, the department must pay within a period of 30 days in terms of the Public Finance Management Act. 

In terms of the procedure explained here above, the department is still on track to effect the necessary payment within the required 30-day period.

Enquiries:
Ncedo Kumbaca
Cell: 082 562 6023