UIF commissioner Maruping ‘should have been charged over Covid graft’

With Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) commissioner Tebogo Maruping suspended on allegations regarding a corrupt tender, the EFF has questioned why he was not criminally charged for graft that occurred in the Covid-related UIF payouts.

Maruping was placed on precautionary suspension by Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth on Friday pertaining to allegations of irregularities in the R5 billion jobs scheme he approved as part of the Thuja Holdings tender.

Meth said her action was “due to the nature of charges he is facing”.

ALSO READ: ‘UIF must serve unemployed, not corrupt’: EFF on Maruping

Court rules on dodgy deal

Early this year, the high court in Pretoria declared the agreement between the UIF and Thuja, owned by Mthunzi Mdwaba, as null and void.

Thuja was to give the fund a 19% share for its R5 billion investments from taxpayers’ money.

Maruping allegedly gave a nod to the project despite warnings from the UIF internal adjudication committee and legal advisors.

He reportedly overruled the internal processes, and it later turned out the programme was linked to high-profile figures.

EFF national spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys said: “It is deeply concerning that such a massive allocation of public funds was pushed through, risking the financial security of the UIF and betraying the unemployed and workers it is meant to serve.”

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