Concerns about Ters non-compliance

WHILE businesses in the province received Temporary Employer/ Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) payments from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to the tune of R10 billion last year, there are concerns about the high level of non-compliance in registering employees for the benefits.

During a briefing with the Department of Employment and Labour and the UIF to discuss challenges experienced with the financial administration of the Covid-19 Ters, the standing committee on finance was told that R10.4bn in Ters benefits was paid over to 54 981 Western Cape businesses between April and December 2020.

Committee chairperson Deidré Baartman (DA) said: “While the UIF should be commended for its work in paying out R59.18bn between April and December 2020 to the country as a whole, currently, an estimated R3.84 million has been associated with fraudulent activities in the Western Cape and only about R250 000 of this money has been recovered.

“This amount is alarming and the committee has requested that the UIF submits the police case number in order for the committee to monitor the UIF’s progress in recuperating this.”

Committee member Nomi Nkondlo (ANC) said: “It is a serious cause for concern that there was non-declaration of employees by some employers.

“This is actually illegal and we shall ask the department to find these employers and bring them to book.”

The department said that 1.1 million employees have received Ters payments but now a lot of work is needed to audit each business and ensure that benefits reach successful applicants.

According to the department the UIF received more than 2.8 million applications. More than 1.7 million applications were thus unsuccessful due mainly to employer failure to declare and register employees in time and the inability to verify bank details.

The personal services sector in the Western Cape, which includes the hospitality industry, hairdressers and other beauty technicians, received the largest portion of support at R3.34bn.