/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, must indicate when July applications for the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s (UIF) Covid-19 Ters benefit will open.

He owes it to the anxious and desperate workers of South Africa, who aren’t sure when their next pay cheque will arrive.

The Ters scheme is due to come to an end on 15 August, and July applications still aren’t open.

Applications for May opened late, at midnight on 26 May. Applications for June opened late, on 24 June, and then closed almost immediately because of security and data breech issues, with functionality only restored on the weekend of 11 and 12 July. Now we are almost halfway through August and nobody is any the wiser about when July applications will open. We don’t know whether July applications will be considered separately from August applications, or whether the six-week bloc between 1 July and 15 August will be treated as a single pay period with a single application process.

Of even greater concern is that payments for April and May seem to have dried up, and payments for June are coming through at a trickle. According to a survey by the National Employers’ Association of South Africa (Neasa), nearly 60% of employers across the country still haven't received their June Ters money. Of the 40% of employers who received payment for June, only 64% were paid in full. Neasa claims that 28% of employers still haven’t received their May benefits and 12% of employers still haven’t received their April benefits. And here again, for April and May payments, only 60-65% of employers were paid in full.

This is deeply concerning and both the UIF and Minister Nxesi need to provide direction and communicate accordingly as a matter of urgency.

Submitted by Dr Michael Cardo MP, DA Shadow Minister for Employment and Labour