Business Unity South Africa Frustrated over UIF’s Dysfunction, Calls for Urgent Intervention

Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) has voiced its grave concern over the ongoing systemic dysfunction at the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). In a statement, BUSA CEO Cas Coovadia emphasized that the UIF's incompetence has disrupted workplaces and strained employee-employer relationships across the country.

Negligence towards UIF's issues, Coovadia said, poses serious risk to the livelihoods of workers. Most concerning, he stated, was the lack of action from the authorities despite repeated calls for intervention.

Not only has BUSA has been actively addressing these issues by engaging with the government and labor representatives at Nedlac, but there have also been ongoing efforts to combat the alleged corruption within the UIF administration over the past three years. Unfortunately, these efforts have been rendered futile due to the UIF Commissioner's alleged unwillingness or inability to address the systemic problems plaguing the institution.

Coovadia aired his disappointment over unsuccessful attempts to solicit positive responses from the Minister of Employment and Labour in the UIF debacle. Recently surfaced news has exposed questionable investments risking billions of rands meant for economically distressed workers.

He noted that the present economic climate exacerbated by frequent load-shedding, heightened inflation, and decreased consumer demand could potentially result in job losses or reduced working hours. The assurance of the benefits provided by UIF is currently hanging in a balance.

BUSA also flagged that the UIF's systemic dysfunction has led to inordinate delays in processing applications, even on their online platforms, and issuing inaccurate information. They criticized continuous changes in requirements and underperforming special schemes like C19 TERS and Workers Affected by Unrest (WABU), which have left hundreds of thousands of applications unresolved.