Letter from the Minister of Health dated 10 September 2004 to the

Speaker of the National Assembly, in terms of section 65(2)(a) of the

Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1959), explaining

the delay in the tabling of the Annual Report of the National Health

Laboratory Services for 2002-2003 and 2003-2004:

Dear Madam Speaker

The National Health Laboratory Services was formed when the

old SAIMR and ninety-seven (97) state controlled diagnostic

laboratories merged in 2002 to form the National Health

Laboratory Services.

The first Annual Report for 2002/03 is due to be released and will

be tabled shortly.

The second Annual Report for the period 2003/04 is due for

submission to you before the end of August 2004. As a result of

problems experienced during the previous year, the auditors

extended their testing and review on the 2004 accounts for the

period ending March 2004.

The Annual Report will now be submitted to you before the end

of October 2004.

A similar letter has been sent to National Treasury.

Kindly acknowledge receipt of this communication.

Kind regards