News24 reports that the head of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has seen his suspension lifted, along with those of two other executives at the fund.

They were suspended in September last year after a report by the Auditor-General (AG) found major irregularities in Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) payments. While the UIF executives were not accused of fraudulent activities, they were held responsible for various problems with Ters, including that the UIF did not sufficiently corroborate information it received from applicants. This resulted in fraudulent and inflated payments, as well as payments to persons who should not have received them. The AG report resulted in the suspensions of UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping, chief financial officer Fezeka Puzi and chief operations officer Judith Kumbi. The matter was referred to the Special Investigative Unit for investigation. Department of Employment and Labour spokesperson Musa Zondi reported that the suspensions have been lifted, and Kumbi had been cleared of any wrongdoing. While Zondi didn't want to give further comment, EWN reported that Maruping and Puzi would now face disciplinary hearings. Maruping has apparently been asked not to return to the office ahead of these hearings.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Anathi Madubela at News24
• Read too, After suspensions lifted, two UIF executives now face disciplinary hearings, at EWN

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