‘We are surviving by handouts': UIF beneficiaries say they haven't been paid in three months
Several Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) beneficiaries serviced by the Department of Labour branch in Randburg, Gauteng, claim they have not received their payments for three months.
Beneficiaries want answers about UIF non-payment
When The Citizen arrived at the branch on Friday, a number of beneficiaries complained about the non-payment problem and claimed that officials were not giving them straight answers to their questions.
'From April, I did not get the money, and when I asked them at the time, they said I must give them a month to sort out the issue. I went there again, but the officials told me that the system was down and they didn't know why the payment had stopped. They ordered me to come back again at the end of July, but I was still not assisted. Instead, I was told to come back after 14 days.
'The money was helpful because my wife is also unemployed, and we are staying with our one-year-old daughter. Now we are only surviving by handouts from family members,' said the 48-year-old Thabo Dube from Thabo Mbeki informal settlement near Cosmo City.
ALSO READ: Call for intervention in 'horror show' at Compensation Fund and UIF
Another beneficiary told officials that she did not get the June payment, and they keep telling her to come back.
'I went to enquire in June, and they told me to come back, and when I got there, they postponed it again and said I must come at the end of July. This does not make any sense because they don't tell me what is happening, and they refuse to let me see the person who is in charge of managing the branch.
'I stay in Diepsloot and am unemployed, yet I am expected to come here every month-end for nothing.'
'UIF has been a mess for many years'
Cosatu parliamentary coordinator Mathew Parks said the UIF has been a mess for many years, and nothing has been done to fix the endless glitches at the entity.
'We have been repeatedly pushing at Nedlac and with the minister for the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) and even the president to address its systemic crises, including calling for it to be placed under administration. We have demanded engagements with business and labour at Nedlac with DEL to ensure a turnaround plan is put in place for the UIF,' he said.
ALSO READ: UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping challenges suspension amid disciplinary processes over R5bn Thuja deal
Parks said the entity has been allowed to operate under chaos for too long, and it is the workers who suffer.
He said Cosatu has been demanding that the crisis at the department be prioritised, but to no avail.
At the time of publishing, the department had not responded to The Citizen's questions on the matter.
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