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GroundUp reports that it took more than a year for Brackenfell resident Stephan Evans to get his Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) money from the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) office in Bellville, Cape Town.
A year after the poor service and long queues at the offices at the Middestad Mall office in Bellville was reported on, the situation has worsened. Clients complain about queueing at dawn and still not receiving help, a dysfunctional online system, delayed payments, bad treatment and rude officials. When GroundUp visited the offices on 7 September at 7am, there was already a long queue. A man was renting stools for R3 to people tired of standing. Gail Lewis, who is waiting for her UIF payment after she lost her job of 28 years in June, had travelled from Bishop Lavis and was in third place after joining the queue at 3am. She indicated: “This is my fifth time coming here. The first time I came they said my documents were not right. The second time there was loadshedding and we were turned away. The third time the system was offline. The fourth time they said my papers were right but I should register online to receive payment. After that I didn’t receive any money or message to say when the money would be paid. That is why I am back to find out what the hold is.” Another person has been trying to claim UIF since April. Cosatu spokesperson Matthew Parks said there was a problem at UIF offices across the country, not just in Bellville. “Workers struggle to access what is due to them when they apply to the UIF. This is because of the inefficiencies at the UIF and also employers failing to pay their funds over to the UIF,” he noted. Parks said Cosatu was working with the UIF and the National Economic Development and Labour Council to resolve the problems.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tariro Washinyira at GroundUp
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page