UIF leadership visits Germiston Labour Center
UIF Commissioner and Committee Conduct Inspections at Labour Centers countrywide
The leadership of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) converged at the Germiston Labour Center in Ekurhuleni on Thursday, July 25, conducting an inspection to better understand and address operational inefficiencies.
UIF Commissioner Teboho Maruping said, “Today we came here as the leadership of the fund, but we also brought in the board of the UIF, the audit committee, and the risk committee. The interest of this visit is to give them a chance to observe and engage with the leadership of the center about some of their frustrations and innovations that they believe the board, audit committee, and risk committee need to consider. Some of the challenges that were raised include our systems being on and off, which takes time to come back, but they have to find creative ways to ensure services are being provided.”
Maruping said the UIF also noted some of the compliance issues, because they have established that some companies are not compliant with labor legislation, a testament to a lot of fraud happening.
Launched last year by the Labour Deputy Minister, Boitumelo Moloi, the Germiston Labour Center is used to run education and awareness programs, and also to create an access point for life skills training for local job seekers.
“Currently, we have 12 employees who have been suspended and are going through disciplinary hearings, and we have options to recover stolen funds,” he said.
According to Dingani Bashimani, Director responsible for UIF in Gauteng, they came to give the oversight structures a feel of how South Africans experience the services they provide.
“We are here today to see for ourselves what the challenges and successes are, including any gaps, because our role is to advise the Minister. We have seen the challenges related to the system and also related to some of the things that UIF can do on its own. We wish for employers to comply and not entice UIF staff members to engage in fraudulent activities, as it has been highlighted,” he said.
Bashimani also reflected on the UIF to focus it’s efforts is making sure that we have enough roots on the ground to enforce compliance from local employers.
The inspections will continue to be conducted in Qqeberha on Friday, 26 July 2024.