Nearly R8bn paid to 1.5-million Gauteng workers in Covid-19 UIF benefits

03 June 2020 - 15:45 By TimesLIVE
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The government has so far paid out R16.5bn in UIF Ters benefits.
The government has so far paid out R16.5bn in UIF Ters benefits.
Image: Leon Swart/123rf.com

Of the R16.5bn that the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has disbursed as part of the Covid-19 temporary employer/employee relief scheme (Ters), almost half has gone to Gauteng, where 1,516,441 workers have benefited.

This is out of the 3,464,124 workers who have been beneficiaries of the scheme across the country.

The total amount paid out in Gauteng is R7.91bn. 

"The workers who have been given the cash injection had their claims lodged by 111,385 employers," said department of employment and labour spokesperson Teboho Thejane.

The second-highest receiving province is the Western Cape, with R2.7bn disbursed so far to 549,156 workers represented by 54,077 employers.

The rest of the provincial breakdown is as follows:

  • KwaZulu-Natal - R2.4bn paid to 523,578 workers, as claimed by 42,136 employers;
  • Eastern Cape - R912.9m distributed to 186,789 workers represented by 18,495 employers;
  • Mpumalanga - R886m paid to 185,329 workers represented by 15,443 employers;
  • Free State - R557m paid to 115,701 workers represented by 14,388 employers;
  • Limpopo - R435m paid to 93,275 workers  via 9,826 employers;
  • North West - R459m to 88,215 workers represented by 9,184 employers; and
  • Northern Cape - R163m paid to 32,141 workers represented by 4,176 employers.

According to the UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping, the fund is holding back R2.8bn - which could benefit 686,463 workers - due to 107,202 employers not providing the fund with the correct details or status of their workers.


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