UIF pays out R63bn to workers and counting

Since the beginning of lockdown last year, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has disbursed R63 billion, bringing relief to about 5.4 million workers across the country.

It has been 17 months since the Covid Temporary Employer/ Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) was introduced to save jobs and ease the financial burden on businesses and their vulnerable workers, who lost income during the lockdown.

On Thursday, the employment and labour department said in a statement: “Considering the fact that the initial budget was R40 billion, which has now been exceeded by R23 billion, it is a remarkable feat by all standards.

“While we celebrate the positive impact of Ters on employers and employees, many payouts are still outstanding largely due to employers who were noncompliant prior to submitting claims for their workers.

“In some cases, the delays are as a result of errors committed by employers in the process of lodging applications,” the department said.

The department commended 404 employers, who heeded the recent call to fix the errors, which has resulted in the payment of R9 633 516.74 to 10 181 employees.

The department also cited concern about complaints that some employers did not pay over the Ters money to their workers.

It said the first reports from the Follow The Money project, which was instituted to address accountability for Ters payouts, painted a picture of dishonesty and fraudulent acts by some employers.

“This included employers claiming for employees who are working; employers submitting false claims; money being utilised for personal expenses such as paying credit cards and buying luxury cars; [money being] utilised for operating costs, and the employer claiming Ters but still paying employees a full salary, meaning there should have been no Ters claim,” the department said.

The department said the same tendency appeared in claims related to the looting in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July.

Acting Unemployment Insurance Fund commissioner advocate Mzie Yawa said: “Some have false Saps case numbers and luckily, our system can pick up through checks that the cases are not genuine.”

There have been 18 arrests, with the latest suspects nabbed by the Hawks in Gauteng last week for fleecing the fund of R10 million in Ters payments.

This followed extensive investigations.

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