PAYMENTS for new and outstanding applications for the Covid-19 TERS relief benefits have been halted while the Department of Employment and Labour and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) improve controls as urged by the Auditor General (AG) of South Africa.
This temporary halt will enable the UIF to not only deal with gaps identified by the AG but also offer the opportunity to ensure some of the improvements that had already been identified by management are implemented.
“While the AG has shown us a number of deficiencies in the payment of the Covid-19 TERS benefits, I must hasten to add that many of these deficiencies had been picked up already by management. Some had already been corrected in the June payments but we will continue to improve the systems so that it responds to the needs of our beneficiaries and make the payments effective and efficient,” said Marsha Bronkhorst, the acting UIF commissioner.
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Bronkhorst added that the UIF had taken a number of steps to address the systemic challenges that they had with regard to the payments.
“Firstly, we have entered into a Memoranda of Understanding with a number of government institutions to make sure we get access into their updated databases. These include institutions such as the South African Social Security Agency, National Students Financial Aid Scheme, and the Department of Home Affairs. These departments and institutions are currently busy verifying the UIF database to ensure payments reach the correct persons.
“Secondly we have updated our system to make sure that the bank verification happens quicker and these include verifications for schools, NGOs and so on. We are also working hard currently in improving our Covid-19 TERS application portal to make sure that to the extent possible, it becomes a self-service portal to make it easy for employers and employees,” she said.
Bronkhorst is upbeat that the system should be up and ready to help workers as soon as possible to provide financial relief especially to those who are still under lockdown conditions.
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“To date the UIF has received just over 1 104 000 applications for the payment of Covid-19 TERS benefit and we have paid 825 840 of these. These payments equate to the just under R42 billion which has been disbursed in 9 501865 payments to workers around the country. As soon as the improvements are finalised, we will be in a position to ensure that workers of this country are provided a cushion to make their lives easier,” she said.
She said for those who defrauded the system, the law will take its course.
“There are already some cases that we have brought to the SAPS for investigation and prosecution – 35 out of a total of 146. This also serves as a notice to those who may have intentions to try and defraud the system. Not only will it be harder to do so, but even if they do succeed, the law will eventually get them and they will pay for stealing from the workers,” she said.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za). At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.
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