Johannesburg - Jobless and retrenched South Africans will get a reprieve through the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s R35 billion investment in job creation.
This is according to the fund’s commissioner, Boas Seruwe, who unveiled the department's bold plans to fight unemployment at a seminar in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
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He said they had decided to use some of the UIF’s R126bn surplus to change people's lives and were hoping that the amendments contained in the UIF Bill would galvanise them to do even more as they aim to get in line with international standards.
The fund's partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation had already yielded 56 000 jobs over a five-year period since 2010 with only R4bn, and Seruwe is convinced the substantial cash injection can only lead to more success.
“The biggest benefactors of the R4bn have been the textile sector, which received R378m; the metal sector, which saw R984m; the chemicals sector with R564m; tourism with R56.7m; and the healthcare sector with R360m,” he said.
Although Seruwe could not immediately point out the specific projects the fund would be investing in, he mentioned the public employment services as one such initiative.
The UIF also plans to use the funds to empower retrenched workers through the training lay-off scheme, which is critical currently as the country's workers, especially in the manufacturing sector, face mass retrenchments.
However, the entity was once again criticised by employers for underspending on this budget as only R53m was spent to assist ailing companies, out of a R2.4bn budget.
Seruwe, however, argued that some claims by employers were declined due to a lack of transparency.
“A challenge that contributes to underspending is that employers are not willing to open their books to prove they are in distress.
“They also have to comply with legislation, they have to pay UIF contributions, pension fund and tax, and account for how they treat their employees,” he said.
Seruwe also hit back at employers, saying they were cutting corners by using the funds provided to them to train retrenched workers on random skills which were not in line with their specialisations.
He referred to a case where employers would offer communications skills to artisans, effectively wasting money which would be better used elsewhere.
“The scheme doesn't just aim to keep them employed through the training lay-off programme - we want them to get skills they can use to get into the labour market. Give them training so that after six months they are able to use the skills,” Seruwe explained.
Two of the country’s biggest union federations, Cosatu and Fedusa, welcomed the R30bn cash injection, saying it would go a long way in creating much-needed jobs.
Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said they had been encouraging the government to go this route for some time, and were pleased that UIF funds would benefit employees in their hour of need.
THE STAR