Tender certificate applications to go online soon

SMALL businesses, companies and employers will soon be able to apply for unemployment insurance fund (UIF) compliance certificates online.

UIF Deputy Director for Compliance, Siphamandla Gumede, said this will eliminate the current process of manually completing and submitting forms, sworn statements and SARS tax clearance certificates via email.

Gumede said with the new system applicants will be able to apply online, and if successful, the certificate would be issued immediately.

‘Companies will also be able to apply for potential businesses faster, including government tenders, as the UIF compliance certificate is often one of the requirements for doing business with the government,’ Gumede said during a stakeholder engagement session in the Northern Cape.

Other benefits include improved turnaround times, elimination of human error and fraudulent activities.

UIF Operations Unit’s Kgomotso Sono also encouraged employers to register their businesses, submit declarations and pay contributions through the modernised online uFiling system.

Sono said workers could also register on uFiling to check their registration with their fund and apply for benefits.

The session further focused on the amendments to the Unemployment Insurance Act and the UIF’s new parental benefits which permits contributing and qualifying working fathers to claim benefits from the UIF.