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TimesLIVE reports that Department of Labour and Employment (DEL) Minister Thulas Nxesi advised on Monday that the SA Revenue Service (Sars) would help with payments of Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) claims should the DEL’s systems crash because of the high volumes of Covide-19 claims received.
“We realised from the beginning when we started with the Covid-19 benefits that the systems we had were not designed for these high volumes. Sars is waiting on the sidelines in case our systems crashes,” Nxesi said in an interview on 702 radio. Despite this, Nxesi said, the department had processed almost R1bn in the UIF's Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (Ters). The minister told eNCA the UIF was working under extreme pressure: “The system was never meant to face such a huge demand. The system is very small, helping with 10,000 to 20,000 claims. Now millions of workers are claiming. In terms of the system, we are not going to be able to deliver as we are supposed to deliver.” Before the pandemic there were around 25 agents processing UIF claims, but Nxesi said they had had to increase the number of agents to more than 200 after the coronavirus outbreak. He told 702 they were thinking of introducing 24-hour shifts to allow agents to work around the clock to process claims.
- Read the full original of the detailed report in the above regard at TimesLIVE
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