Long queues and delays to get assistance are some of the stumbling blocks that residents face on a daily basis at the Department of Labour Randburg Walk-in Centre.
These are some of the challenges found by Democratic Alliance (DA) mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba and Shadow Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament (MP) Ian Ollis during the oversight visit at the centre on 25 January.
“One woman we spoke to said she had been visiting this centre every month for the past six months to claim her Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) money, and she hasn’t got a single cent,” explained Ollis.
He further explained that other residents go to the centre to register on the public employment service in order to get jobs either in the public or private sectors and the department should place them on their database.
“But we find that only 2.3 per cent of people who apply to be on the public deployment service are getting jobs and the rest nothing,” he further explained.
He continued that the system was simply not working and the public was not receiving the service they deserve.
Mashaba explained that it was difficult for businesses to employ people as the administrative bureaucracy at the centre was not working at all.
He further complained that some of the vacancies needed to be filled and that the system breaks down at least twice a week.
“Why don’t we use technology to make it easy for our people? Waiting for three hours in the queue for over the past six months, is that really acceptable,” asked Mashaba.
According to the DA, the employment companies were faced with a challenging and complicated registration process when applying to register as an employment agency.
Maphuti Singo (65) from Soweto complained that the system was not working at all. She indicated that she had visited various labour centres all over Gauteng claiming her UIF money, but could not get assistance since July 2015.
“Whenever I submit my papers I am promised that within three days my problem will be sorted, but it is not. There is no customer care at all,” she concluded.
Ollis concluded that the compensation fund should be privatised, the computer system must be fixed and staff members should receive proper training to get these problems solved.
“Too much of the work is done on paper, the papers get lost and you have to start all over again,” he concluded.
Details: DA Gauteng, 010 593 3020.
Related articles:
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education applauds matriculants
