Call to probe fraudulent UIF claims

PARLIAMENT’S Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour has called on law enforcement agencies to speed up investigations into fraudulent claims at the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).

The Department of Employment and Labour and the UIF were briefing the committee on fraudulent claims when it was revealed that 75 suspect claims were being investigated.

Chairperson of the committee, Lindelwa Dunjwa, said: “Law enforcement agencies must move with speed on investigations, so that the employee benefits made available during the Covid-19 lockdown are directed for their intended purpose.

“Those arrested for having acted fraudulently and corruptly should be charged, as corruption has no place in our country. We are encouraging the UIF to tighten their systems and ensure that there are no weaknesses.

“The committee is reassured that the UIF system identified the suspected fraudulent transactions. We are happy that the department and the UIF are following the money. Working with law enforcement agencies, the entity should be able to root out corruption,” said Dunjwa.

Five people arrested by the Hawks at the weekend for defrauding the UIF of R5.7 million intended for workers impacted by the Covid-19 national lockdown appeared in court on Monday.

Welcoming the arrests, Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi said: “As we have indicated before, we will follow every cent that we have spent during this period.

“Working together with our internal auditors, the office of the auditor-general and our contracted forensic auditors as well as the law enforcement agencies, we are putting those who thought that the UIF was their source for easy money on notice.

“You will be you will be prosecuted,” he said.

Meanwhile, National Employers’ Association of South Africa chief executive Gerhard Papenfus said: “Some 19% of employers still haven’t received their April UIF/Ters money.

“Of the 81% of employers who received payment, only 58% were paid in full.”|