The union said that the protest comes after many queries raised with the Employment and Labour Department regarding the non-payment of Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme administered by the UIF.
Numsa members march to the Sandton city centre to hand over a memorandum of demands on August 28. Picture: Rahima Essop/EWN
CAPE TOWN – The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) will be picketing at the UIF provincial offices on Wednesday over the delay in UIF payments.
The union said that the protest comes after many queries raised with the Employment and Labour Department regarding the non-payment of the Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme administered by the UIF.
National spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola: “Our demands are simple: workers want to be paid what is due to them. This is not a loan, this money belongs to workers and must be paid immediately. It’s a well-known fact that UIF Commissioner Teboho Maruping has been placed on precautionary suspension following the Auditor-General’s report on the COVID-19 relief benefit scheme for workers.”
She said that the Auditor-General found massive irregularities and evidence of corruption.
“This follows a number of suspensions that have also taken place within the UIF administration which has caused huge delays in the processing of workers’ claims. We’ve always blamed employers for not paying employees their TERS money because we were told by the UIF that employers were to blame and were failing to submit all the documents.”
The protest will start at 11 this morning at the Department of Labour in Cape Town.
