Nxesi missing in action as workers wait for UIF to accept May claims – DA

CAPE TOWN  – Labour and employment minister Thulas Nxesi must play open cards about the worsening calamity at the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) as desperate workers wait for it to start accepting claims for Covid-19 benefits for May, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Wednesday.

DA labour spokesman, Michael Cardo said he received assurances from UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping last Friday that the fund would open for online applications for funding from the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) this month. Nxesi promised that it would go online at midnight on Tuesday.

But on Wednesday morning, this was still not the case.

“This constitutes a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. It means that millions of wage earners face the prospect of receiving no income for May until the middle of June at the very earliest,” Cardo said.

“When the benefit finally arrives, it will be too little too late. Employers and employees have bills to pay and families to feed right now. They cannot wait.”