Woman’s UIF claim exposed as fraud

A woman trying to get an unemployment insurance fund (UIF) payout opened up a can of worms when an investigation discovered her work permit was fraudulent.

Siphilisiwe Sibanda approached The Citizen for help about the delay in the payout of her UIF claim following the loss of her job.

Went to home affairs to verify documents

After we put her in touch with Sekhothali Lekalakala of the labour department, he went with her to the department of home affairs offices in Roodepoort to have her documents verified.

Officials determined that Sibanda’s Zimbabwean exemption permit (ZEP) had not been issued by the department.

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Despite Sibanda’s insistence that the permit was issued by the department, home affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza said this document was not generated from their offices.

Documents fraudulent

After a brief investigation Qoza said: “The document was verified by the home affairs Roodepoort office, and by the department’s inspectorate. Both verification processes concluded that the document in Ms Sibanda’s possession was fraudulent as it was not issued by the department.

He added: “She claimed that this document was her first permit she got from home affairs. This cannot be correct because ZEP is the third special permit the department had issued to qualifying Zimbabwean nationals.”