The DPSM senior assistant director for the Compensation and Benefits Unit, Tshokolo Timothy, told Mmegi the conduct was “very unfortunate and regrettable”. The comments come amidst an upsurge of complaints from small hospitality players in villages and towns, that civil servants are abusing their new found buying power to force down room rates. For many small owners of lodges, bed and breakfast or guest houses, travelling civil servants comprise the lion’s share of monthly customers, helping to support the survival of these businesses. However, since government largely replaced its imprest system with a P1, 500 per night cash per diem, the hospitality players have found that some of the travelling civil servants use their collective purchasing power to demand increasingly lower rates. As the per diem includes an allocation or breakdown for accommodation, meals and an incidental, some civil servants are reportedly pushing down room rates in order to remain with spare spending cash for themselves. The per diem was introduced as a more efficient method of managing the out of office costs of public officers.
The traditional imprest system created multi-million pula backlogs as civil servants failed to properly account for, reconcile or “retire” funds used during their trips. However, the cash per diems for local travel are reportedly susceptible to abuse. “Under the current dispensation, these public officers walk into your facility and enquire about the pricing of your offerings,” an irate SME lodge owner wrote in a complaint shared with Mmegi. “They would then make it clear to you that they are willing to pay P300.00 or P400.00 for accommodation and if the facility does not yield to their demands, they would leave and go from one facility to another until they get away with their ridiculous and selfish demands. “What motivates them to act this way, is that they are in possession of funds that are not accounted for or retired. “Therefore, they will stop at nothing to ensure that they make savings out of this per diem. “Remember that the environment has been made conducive for this kind of conduct by policy makers as there is no accountability required,” the lodge owner added. The lodge owner, who has requested anonymity, said the situation lends itself to the growth of illegal hospitality operators who cater for the lower rates demanded, but compromise standards, health and safety. The situation is also adversely impacting SME operators’ ability to service their bank loans and other obligations with lenders such as CEDA.
