The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) says R3.4-billion has been voluntarily returned by employers who benefited from the COVID-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS).
The UIF says an audit has been conducted on over R14-billion which was disbursed through TERS.
Phase 1 of its Follow-the-Money project has revealed that several companies submitted fraudulent applications.
The UIF’s Communications Director Makhosonke Buthelezi says more employers are expected to return surplus funds.
“We discovered that there were claims that were made in some cases where employers had inflated the salaries that they said their employees were earning for the 3 months prior to COVID-19. Some had claimed for employees that they had already retrenched before COVID-19. For some it was a pure matter of errors,” says Buthelezi.
Process of applying for UIF’s Temporary Financial Relief Scheme: Adv. Mzi Yawa
MEDIA RELEASE: R3,4 billion rand has been voluntarily returned to the #UIF by employers who benefitted from the #Covid19TERS Relief Scheme.
Full statement 👇 pic.twitter.com/IUCpePH7sn
— UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUND (UIF) (@UIFBenefits) June 30, 2022
