Johannesburg - The government has come under pressure, in recent weeks, to reintroduce the UIF Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (Ters benefit scheme) as some sectors battle to keep businesses afloat due to the restrictions placed under Alert Level-3 of the risk-adjusted national lockdown.
Restaurants, and industries in the tourism and hospitality sectors, have been among the most heavily affected by the restrictions, reintroduced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in December 2020, in an effort to curb the spread of the second wave of Covid-19 infections in South Africa.
These sectors have been impacted by the alcohol ban and the restrictions on beach closures.
With the purse tightening, calls have been growing for social assistance including the UIF Ters benefit system to be extended. Ters was introduced in March 2020, when the hard lockdown Alert Level-5, the most restrictive regime of regulations, was enacted by the government, as coronavirus cases spiked.
The scheme saw employers apply on behalf of their employees to receive a payout for unpaid wages due to the lockdown. It was extended several times.
The UIF's Makhosonke Buthelezi said the fund had an initial budget of R40 billion allocated for Ters. To date, the scheme has spent over R57 billion in payouts, Buthelezi said.
The Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA) has strongly urged the government to help support the floundering tourism industry, especially as the sector has been restricted in some crucial income-generating areas.
Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, the council's CEO, said more jobs were on the line if the government did not step in and provide some form of assistance
Tshivhengwa also pointed to restrictions, such as beach closures, which have added further to woes within the industry.
The Restaurant Association of South Africa has also spoken out strongly against the restrictions placed on the sector. The association's boss Wendy Alberts held a protest last week outside the Union Buildings to call on President Cyril Ramaphosa's attention to address the plight faced by restaurateurs, since the travel and leisure industry was negatively affected by the lockdown regulations, which included restrictive curfews for eateries.
The DA and IFP have spoken strongly in support of an extension of UIF Ters scheme because it would help save jobs and stave off the rate of business failures while the country remains under lockdown regulations.
The DA said it had proposed that the department of labour be compelled to appear in Parliament to explain the delay on whether or not to extend Ters.
"The DA maintains that for as long as the government prevents people from participating in the economy, it has a duty to mitigate the devastating economic impact with financial assistance. It is a matter of principle,“ DA MP Michael Cardo said.
UIF spokesperson Makhosonke Buthelezi said Nedlac was currently working on possible options concerning the UIF Ters extension, though a firm decision was yet to be taken.
He said the fund was reluctant to support an extension of the Ters benefit scheme because there were concerns over the probable exhaustion of funds.
"Nedlac is seized with the matter. Last year, the Auditor General cautioned the fund that continuous extension of the benefit may lead to the depletion of the funds. The latest actuarial report has also come to the same conclusion and warned that this could be detrimental to the payment of normal UIF benefits, hence the fund is averse to the idea," Buthelezi said.
Buthelezi said another measure to provide cover for workers whose salaries had been shrunk by the lockdown, was the use of the reduced work time or short benefits offered by the UIF.
Cardo said this suggestion by the UIF was flawed, as it may place workers at risk of depleting their benefit funds, which would negatively affect them, if they were to be retrenched.
Political Bureau