85,000 employees have still not received UIF payments for May amounting to R356 million.
Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi has appointed auditors to follow the money trail and already there are indications that some people and companies have allegedly taken advantage of the help being advanced to workers and are seeking to enrich themselves. The department released a statement explaining that, in May alone, 85,049 workers who would have benefitted from R356 million in payments had still not received the money as the details submitted by employers are missing.
"It is alleged that there are companies that have not paid the workers what is due to them. We are aware of some companies allegedly loaning employees the money and that is not legal. We are also aware of other companies that are allegedly paying part of the money and not the full amount, as well as companies using the money for something else other than the intended purpose. If all these allegations are true, we appeal to companies to do the right thing still,” said the Minister.
"There are many cases where companies have not declared workers or have not contributed to employees. We will be raising debt against those companies and they must know that they need to pay back with interest and other penalties owed to the UIF. It is in all our interest to do the right thing. Even without being compliant, we have done the right thing and still paid them the Covid-19 relief and they also have to do the right thing."
