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On Wednesday, the minister suspended the commissioner, chief financial officer, chief operating officer and head of supply chain of the FIU at the entity responsible for social security.
FILE: Minister of Employment and Labor Thulas Nxesi. Image: Kayleen Morgan / EWN
JOHANNESBURG – Labor and Employment Minister Thulas Nxesi has been criticized by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), saying that he should be among those responsible for the crisis in the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
On Wednesday, the minister suspended the commissioner, chief financial officer, chief operating officer and head of supply chain of the FIU at the entity responsible for social security.
This after the damning findings in the Auditor General’s report on the FIU’s COVID-19 Temporary Relief Plan for Employers / Employees (TERS), which details corruption and fraud in the system that paid R41 billion to more than nine million beneficiaries so far.
Cosatu on Thursday said Eyewitness news that there should be no scapegoats in the FIU debacle, saying that there should be broader accountability, including in ministry.
The Auditor General identified, among others, overpayments, underpayments, duplicate payments, and discrepancies, such as approvals of payments made prior to the application submission date, as well as fraud and double dipping.
The TERS fund, armed with a budget of 40 billion rand, was implemented to protect workers who lost their wages during the COVID-19 shutdown.
“Matthew Parks, Cosatu parliamentary coordinator: “There has to be political responsibility. From the ministry to the department, to the FIU. The report’s findings are shocking, to say the least.”
In announcing the suspensions on Wednesday, Nxesi said he had to take the action because the irregularities occurred on top management’s clock.
Now Cosatu has challenged him to demonstrate what prevented him from intervening when he was part of the decision-making processes and had been informed of the issues by the federation months ago.
The FIU issue was expected to be discussed by social partners at a meeting of the National Council for Economic Development and Labor (Nedlac) on Thursday afternoon.
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