Saturday Star reports that the Department of Labour has emphasised that individuals who found themselves without work in the coming year could still secure claims from their Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) contributions.
This came amid an announcement by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant that R2-billion from the UIF would be allocated to the Project Development Partnership (PDP) Fund, which was established by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). Oliphant on Friday launched the R2bn fund, saying the money would go towards aiding “small business start-ups” that created employment opportunities and contributed to growing the country’s economy. With the unemployment rate sitting at 27.5% and retrenchments having hit some sectors this past year, UIF director of communications Makhosonke Buthelezi allayed any fears of contributions drying up in the future, saying the R2bn fund by the Labour Department was an investment and not a grant. “If we were to find ourselves with a huge unemployment crisis we would still make money readily available from the interest accrued from the investment,” he indicated. The PDP Fund is expected to create and support more than 10,000 jobs.
- Read Noni Mokati’s full report on this story at IOL News
- Read too, Refugees sue for UIF payouts, on page 5 of Saturday Star of 15 December 2018
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page