Trade union Numsa said the protest outside the UIF offices in Cape Town related to non-payment from the Temporary Employee Relief Scheme.
FILE: The demonstrators, who are affiliated to Numsa, claim government failed to pay UIF for months. Picture: EWN
CAPE TOWN – Dozens of workers protested at the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) provincial offices in Cape Town.
Trade union National Union for Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said the protest related to non-payment from the Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (TERS).
The scheme was introduced to help workers effected by the COVID-19 lockdown.
The demonstrators claimed government failed to pay UIF for months.
They were singing and holding placards which read: ‘Stop stealing from workers’ and ‘We demand workers money’.
Numsa’s Vuyo Lufele said money allocated to pay workers seemed not to have reached employees.
“Workers have been waiting for this money for many months. Some have not been paid since April. When we go to employers, they say they have submitted everything. We have realised very late that the problem is with the UIF administration.”
A Nyanga man, who works for a plastics company, said he had not received a cent since March.
“We know that we are doing millions for these companies, but when we are in a crisis like that, the company is not doing anything for us.”
The group includes union members and workers from various sectors.
