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Moneyweb writes that getting through to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is “like banging your head against a brick wall”.
This is how one frustrated claimant who applied for benefits over a year ago with no luck feels, and Moneyweb says it can attest to this. This month alone, the publication heard from a business owner and two employees, all of whom have nothing good to say about their claims process with the UIF. All of the three complaints relate to claims applications submitted to the UIF over a year ago, with one even going as far back as 2020. A key thread among all the complaints is the feeling of being sent from pillar to post by the fund, a process characterised by poor communication, an endless cycle of resubmitting documents, and poor assistance from call centre agents – for those who got through, at least. One frustrated reader, who has had many run-ins with the fund’s call centre agents, relayed a sense of hopelessness after applying for a UIF benefit over 18 months ago. The UIF was contacted early last week to get its side of the story as to why it was proving so difficult for some to receive their dues from the fund, but these attempts were unsuccessful. Malaika Human Capital Consultants advised on Tuesday that the firm gave up taking on clients struggling with UIF claims late last year because working with the department was such a struggle and no longer feasible. “We took a decision last year in October not to go ahead with that [UIF claims] anymore … because we’d follow up and we wouldn’t get feedback,” founder Helen Nel indicated. She added that the back-and-forth with the UIF got so frustrating that it sometimes threatened the firm’s relationship with clients, jeopardising its credibility and brand.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Akhona Matshoba at Moneyweb
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