IOL reports that the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is auditing companies that claimed Covid-19 temporary employer-employee relief scheme (Ters) benefits, with a special focus on employers who defrauded the government scheme.

Phase two of the UIF’s ‘Follow the Money Project’, which started this month, has also set its sights on employers who did not declare employees and kept Covid-19 Ters money for themselves, instead of paying their workers. UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping said the Fund was implementing an “on the spot as well as an overtime recoupment process”. The process will apply in cases in which, before March 2020, employees were not declared by employers. In such instances, 70% of the 2% contributed by the Fund would be recovered immediately. “In these cases, only 30% will be recouped over a period of time from employers. In cases where monies were claimed from the UIF but did not reach the intended employees, 50% will be immediately recouped by our teams,” Maruping indicated. The UIF said its ‘Follow the Money Project’ had already recovered over R900 million. The project saw the UIF employ six audit companies to follow all Covid-19 Ters money to ensure that the correct amount was paid to the workers “at the right time”. The six auditing companies are now being bolstered by a team from the Fund that is visiting employers to conduct internal verifications of the declared employees.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jonisayi Maromo at IOL

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