An unemployed man holds a self-made advertising board offering his services at a traffic intersection in Cape Town, South Africa 10 March 2017. Picture: EPA / NIC BOTHMA
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) will from Thursday start processing Covid-19 TERS applications for the period covering 16 August to 15 September, following the extension of the relief plan until the end of the national disaster.
The UIF has so far paid out R45 billion in over 10.2 million payments to nearly a million employers as part of government’s programme to assist displaced workers due to the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown.
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“To apply for the September period, employers are required to upload similar documentation that include: signed approval or acceptance letter, bank confirmation letter, proof of payment to employees, and refund to the UIF – if applicable,” said acting UIF commissioner Marsha Bronkhorst.
Applications will also be vetted by external partners for the validity of the claims before funds are paid to ensure fraudulent claims are weeded out. Such fraudulent claims have been stopped and referred to UIF’s risk management unit for further investigation, said Bronkhorst.
“Early signs of the new vetting process with external partners show that we are on the right track, as we have been able to pick up potentially fraudulent claims.”
Claims applications for April and May period closed last week on 25 September, while claims for the June period close on 15 October, and July/August claims have a deadline of 30 October.
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Meanwhile, the National Union of Metalworkers of South African (Numsa) in the Western Cape will be picketing at the UIF provincial offices in the province on Wednesday due to delayed payment of the TERS relief fund.
“Our members are angry and frustrated with the lengthy delays in payment, and the UIF has failed to respond to our queries and has not given us proper feedback on these issues. All our attempts to find a solution to the outstanding payments have failed because the problem is with the UIF administration.
“The UIF has failed miserably and it has intensified the suffering of workers and their families,” said Numsa Western Cape regional secretary Vuyo Lufele.
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