Tapping into Covid-19 UIF payments as time runs out - what employers say

Earlier this week President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s (UIF) special Covid-19 benefit had paid out R1.6 billion by close of business on Tuesday, assisting more than 37 000 companies and 600 000 workers. There’s a different story from employers and unions who say there are logjams in the system. And Labour and Employment Minister Thulas Nxesi reportedly told MPs on Wednesday that the UIF administrators had found instances where employers have attempted to over-claim from its Covid-19 special cover, though concerns that the UIF is vulnerable to fraudsters were quickly quashed. In this podcast BizNews editor-in-chief Alec Hogg interviews Gerhard Papenfus, the Chief Executive of the National Employers' Association of South Africa (NEASA), for the lowdown on how employers are accessing Covid-19 UIF payments. - Jackie Cameron