Cape Town - So far, 7 199 claims have been lodged with the Compensation Fund for Covid-19 infections contracted while at work.
Of that number, 4 595 claims have been submitted directly to the Fund and a further 2 385 to Rand Mutual, while Federated Employees have received 219 claims.
Compensation Fund spokesperson Hloni Mpaka said that of the 4 595 claims, 2 358 come from the Western Cape, followed by the Eastern Cape with 1 107, KwaZulu-Natal with 491, Gauteng with 481, Mpumalanga with 91, the Northern Cape with 35, North West with 29, and Limpopo with 3.
Of the 2 385 claims received by Rand Mutual, Gauteng received 1 870, the Eastern Cape 160, KZN 91, the Western Cape 72, the Free State 58, North West 38, Limpopo 20, and an unknown 64. Of the 2 385 claims, 2 156, or 90.4% percent, are pending adjudication.
Compensation Fund commissioner Vuyo Mafata said this was because of a number of claims that were originally repudiated due to incomplete information, but the outstanding information had been furnished.
“The cases have since been enrolled and are awaiting adjudication. In cases where the claims have been repudiated, with better information the claim could still be approved and the Fund will accept liability,” said Mafata.
“Federated Employees, who represent workers mostly in the construction sector, has received a total of 219 claims – mostly from Gauteng (120), Western Cape (32), KZN (19), Northern Cape (11), North West (9), Free State (5) and Mpumalanga (3).”
Head of Human Capital at CRS Technologies Nicol Myburgh said despite the number of infections on the decline, there were employees who were having second thoughts about whether they should return to an office environment.
“From a legal perspective an employee may refuse to perform any work if circumstances arise which, with reasonable justification, appear to pose an imminent and serious risk of their exposure to the coronavirus,” Myburgh said.
“Of course, this does not absolve employees of their responsibility to follow proper protocol.
“An employee who has refused to return to work must, as soon as it is reasonably practicable, notify the employer, either personally or through a health and safety representative, of their refusal to come to work, and provide their reasons.”
Cape Argus