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BL Premium reports that system glitches that left many workers in desperate need of cash and stranded have returned to haunt the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), with foreign nationals the worst affected.
Employees have accused the fund of withholding Covid-19 funding, mostly to foreign nationals working in the country, under the pretext that it was verifying their details with the relevant government agencies. The Covid-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (Ters), which the UIF administers, was established by government in March 2020 to provide relief to those in formal employment expected to lose their income due to the lockdown. Foreign nationals who are employed legally and contribute to the UIF are entitled to receive the relief. But, Cape Town businessman Derek Pryce recently highlighted that a Zimbabwean employee had not been paid the Ters benefits, despite making monthly payments to the UIF and to the SA Revenue Service (Sars). “We registered for the UIF Ters last year and the company was reimbursed for a portion of its salary payments in all cases except that of the Zimbabwean employee,” said Pryce. His employee is not the only one affected by the nonpayment and other cases are detailed in the BL Premium report. UIF spokesperson Makhosonke Buthelezi said the fund had had to “tighten its systems” after adverse findings by the auditor-general. He said the fund would not pay out until it had verified the employee with relevant government agencies including home affairs and Sars, among others. “We have been asking employers to encourage their employees to go fix their documents. There is no discrimination against foreign nationals working in SA, whatsoever,” Buthelezi stated.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page