Eastern Cape Province to receive 47 additional satellite offices and capacity to process UIF applications
Workers in the Eastern Cape Province will soon have an additional 47 Department of Employment and Labour satellite offices to claim Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) benefits from.
The remarkable news was revealed by UIF Chief Director: Corporate Services Mzie Yawa on Tuesday 23 January 2024 at a media briefing which took place at Halyards Hotel in Port Alfred to apprise communities of the Fund’s performance in the province and developments to improve service delivery.
According to Yawa, workers in rural parts of the province often need to travel more than 200 kilometres to access a labour centre to apply for benefits.
The additional service points will ensure that UIF services are easier accessible and closer to where workers live, especially for workers from the rural parts of the province.
“This province currently has 16 labour centres and five satellite offices which have been found to be inadequate due to the increasing demand, primarily for UIF services. It is for this reason that we decided to respond in this manner. We have taken into consideration the unique circumstances of the Eastern Cape in so far as data connectivity and distance is concerned, among other key factors, and we are mindful that when clients approach us to claim benefits, more often than not they are not in the best financial state. As the UIF and the Department of Employment and Labour we continuously assess ourselves to improve service delivery,” explained Yawa.
Yawa further revealed that the UIF is busy winding up outstanding Covid-19 TERS applications in the province. Since the inception of Covid-19 TERS, over R3.2 billion has been disbursed to 794 796 workers in the Eastern Cape Province.
The top ten sectors that benefitted from Covid-19 TERS are personal services, trade, professional services, building, iron, education services, Air, food, taxi industry and agriculture.
“We are not taking on any new applications, but simply paying out claims that are still outstanding as we approach the closure of this special relief scheme,” said Yawa.
Smiso Nkosi, a manager in the Office of the UIF Commissioner told reporters that the UIF is continuing with its ‘Follow the Money’ auditing project, to ensure that all Covid-19 TERS monies are properly accounted for.
Nkosi revealed that the Eastern Cape ranks third highest in terms of the monetary value of suspected Covid-19 TERS fraud cases in the country.
He said 8 755 companies that received Covid-19 TERS monies in the province were audited, and of these 11 were flagged for suspected fraud and subsequently investigated.
“Working with the Special Investigating Unit, the Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority, and other law enforcement agencies at the Fusion Centre, the Fund has seen 16 successful convictions of Covid-19 TERS fraudsters from the province,” said Nkosi.
According to Nkosi for phase one of the “Follow the Money Project the UIF audited and verified is 14,2 billion. Another 13,4 billion was verified in the second phase of the project, resulting in a total of 27.6 billion that has been verified to date.
The media briefing was preceded by an advocacy session for employers, commercial business owners, as well as SMMEs to engage on UIF matters, resolve enquiries and complaints as well as to assist employers with compliance of the Unemployment Insurance Act .
For media enquiries contact:
Ziphozihle Klaas-Josefu
Provincial Communication Officer: Eastern Cape
Cell: 082 697 0694
E-mail: ziphozihle.josefu@labour.gov.za
Trevor Hattingh
UIF Director: Communications
Cell: 067 410 4099
E-mail: Media.UIF@labour.gov.za
