Cape Town – The DA intends to lay criminal charges against the ANC’s Top Six leadership over the ruling party’s alleged failure to pay staff members’ Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) contributions.
Disgruntled Luthuli House staffers have claimed that the ANC has been deducting UIF contributions since 2018 from its workers but not paying it to the government.
’’The ANC cannot be allowed to put their employees’ rightful benefits at risk because of the organisation’s inability to manage its own finances. The DA therefore has no other option than to intervene and press charges with SAPS,’’ the DA said in a statement on Tuesday.
’’Millions of South Africans have been battered due to the economic fall-out brought on by the Covid-19 lockdown, and ANC employees have been made to suffer for three months without pay.
’’For the ANC to put their UIF benefits at risk – and to have been doing so for three years – is not only a travesty but also illegal.’’
The ANC, which has also launched a crowdfunding campaign, has vowed to dispose of some of its assets to settle the pay disputes with its staff members. The workers have been striking since August 26.
Aside from a permanent employment demand for staff working for over 18 months, the staff members also pleaded with the ANC to ensure that “all contributions owed to the provident fund and UIF must also be paid immediately. The employer (ANC) must in writing commit to the demands above but also must indicate that their commitment is binding and as such an award that can be enforced through labour relations act processes”.
IOL