The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is concerned about the number of fraudulent activities relating to the Temporary Employer / Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) applications.
Employers were found to have misappropriated funds meant for employees.
This includes
Employers claiming for employees who are working. In those instances, the Covid-19 TERS money was not paid over to employees – it having been claimed fraudulently and not for workers;
Employers submitted false claims;
Employers used the money for personal expenses such as paying for credit cards, buying luxurious cars, utilised for operating costs etc;
Employers claimed Covid-19 TERS but still paid employees full salary – meaning there should have been no TERS claim; Covid-19 TERS funds;
The UIF says a lot of the fraudulent claims are related to the unrest and looting that took place in parts of KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng. In August, the UIF was approved to provide relief to workers who were impacted by the unrest.
Last week the Hawks made 18 arrests related to fraudulent UIF claims in Gauteng.
Acting UIF Commissioner Advocate Mazie Yawa said "following extensive investigations and through the involvement of the follow the money project forensic audits, the suspects were arrested and charged. We are delighted that this project is bearing fruits as we have been able to recover close to R900 million to the UIF’s coffers".
Yawa says that the UIF is in constant communication to help assist employers to rectify all error codes that are preventing the processing of TERS claims. He says the fund is confident that all claims will be successfully processed before the end of 2021.
The lists of employers who must fix errors and those that appear to have engaged in fraudulent activities are listed on the UIF’s website.
