17 June 2026
South Africa’s Organised Labour federations – COSATU, FEDUSA, SAFTU and NACTU are deeply concerned about the worsening crisis at the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases Fund.
The two social security funds are entrusted with assisting workers in their time of need, but both are failing spectacularly at their mandate.
Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF)
Recent revelations by the SIU of fraudulent claims from the UIF Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) to the tune of R27 million during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrate the depth of the crisis at the fund. The firms used ghost employees as the basis of their claims and were paid millions of Rands while legitimate claimants – employers on behalf of workers – remain unpaid to date for claims submitted during lockdown and the July 2021 WABU unrest. Organised Labour has been raising these concerns and failures for the past six years in both NEDLAC and other forums.
In addition, the long queues and inefficiencies the UIF is notorious for persist unabated. Young women speak of the indecency of trying to avoid exposing themselves while breastfeeding their newborns, all the while standing in snaking queues outside labour centres, waiting for their chance to apply for maternity benefits, only to be told the system is offline sometimes late in the afternoon when they finally reach the front of the queue. Having gone through that ordeal, the same young women return to work without having received a single red cent of their maternity benefits from UIF and their child is literally a toddler running around, and still the payment is not forthcoming. These are examples of young mothers who are not asking for favours but are legally entitled because they contributed.
Accessibility is a challenge as workers need to use public transport to reach a Labour Centre. Owing to their unemployment, they are forced to borrow taxi fare but often find they have to make multiple trips because the system at UIF is offline or they have to submit a document they weren’t aware was required.
The queues would be shorter and the need for multiple trips would cease if the UIF’s online portal worked optimally. In the past two years, uFiling has often been offline, sometimes for months, making it impossible for workers to submit their claims virtually and for employers to declare and pay contributions on behalf of their employees.
The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) last month refuted reports that the old uFiling portal was still live, and workers were still using it to submit claims. Unsurprisingly, the claims were not paid because the submissions were not valid even though the system issued reference numbers as proof of submission. Embarrassingly, the old portal is still live and is yet to be shut down.
UIF officials previously gave NEDLAC social partners assurances that the new uFilling would be working optimally by April of this year, yet this has still not happened. Some workers have reported attempting to submit claims via uFiling, only to discover that it is offline as early as 9 am. On visiting the nearest labour centres, they are subjected to long queues, and once again told that the system is offline.
Organised Labour and Business at NEDLAC have consistently called upon DEL to modernise and fix the UIF to ensure that it provides income support to workers when they are most vulnerable, to no avail. Instead, every year since 2020, the UIF and DEL make beautiful PowerPoint presentations at NEDLAC , promising to tackle the many challenges workers experience at the UIF. Glossy reports are submitted to Parliament claiming to have attained their targets, yet workers on the ground experience no improvement.
The South African Revenue Services and the Government Technical Advisory Centre and even Business previously offered to help fix the UIF’s systems at no cost; but in its wisdom DEL refused, opting to use outside suppliers. Still the system is operating at sub-optimal levels.
Another contentious issue is that of Labour Activation Programmes (LAP). Originally aimed at enhancing workers’ employability in particular contributors, enabling entrepreneurship, and safe-guarding jobs through TERS and the Business Turnaround and Recovery Programme, LAP is now being abused by corrupt elements at the fund
That said, we demand an immediate investigation into all LAP projects. Going forward, any LAP projects must be approved by contributors, both Organised Labour and Business because these are the only contributors to this fund. Government cannot take decisions in this regard because it does not contribute a single cent to UIF. Moreover, it is not only the UIF’s responsibility to address the joblessness in the country. It is the responsibility of DEL, Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, National Treasury and the Presidency working with other relevant entities.
Compensation Fund
Turning attention to the Compensation Fund (CF). Organised Labour welcomes and agrees with the Supreme Court’s ruling that the dire state of the fund necessitates an urgent and independent investigation. We are yet to be told when this judgement will be implemented.
Tasked with compensating workers for injuries, diseases and death while on duty, the CF is failing workers. By 2025, the fund had received disclaimer audit opinions for 12 consecutive years, according to the Auditor General. Historical audit failures continue to adversely impact the entity, as missing and incomplete documents render it impossible to fully account for public monies or verify the revenue it generates due to poor data and record management systems. We think this in not by accident but deliberate as weak systems enable corruption to take place.
The lack of consequence management is alarming, given repeated failures to address audit findings and governance shortcomings. CF reports revealed widespread fraudulent activities, with many allegations pointing to involvement of officials in wrongdoing. Disturbingly, it appears no attempt has been made to hold the culprits accountable.
Particularly worrying is the lack of capacity within the CF as critical management and technical positions remain vacant or occupied in an acting capacity indefinitely as is within the UIF. Key vacancies in audit coordination, financial misconduct investigations, ICT assurance and data governance continue to undermine the entity’s ability to function effectively. Skilled managers are reportedly leaving due to salary concerns and deteriorating working conditions, further weakening the fund’s capacity.
Sadly, workers pay the hard price for these failures through long delays in the processing and payment of claims. Thousands of injured workers are forced to wait for benefits because of administrative failures, rejected payments and system inefficiencies linked to outdated and vulnerable IT infrastructure. The Fund’s systems are reportedly often offline at Labour Centres and on digital platforms, creating long queues, frustration and hardship for workers seeking assistance.
Conclusion
The crises in these funds cannot be sanitised any longer while workers are not receiving their income relief on time, if at all, whilst the high cost of living continues to rise.
Organised Labour demands that CF and the UIF should be empowered with the authority to make real changes and improvements and not be merely advisory as they are currently. Additionally, the long overdue amendments to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) must be expedited to strengthen governance, accountability and oversight.
Organised Labour supports calls for the UIF and CF to be overhauled and cleansed, with competent management appointed and modern systems put in place. However, we reject the unbundling of these social security funds from DEL.
We demand that all key position be filled and competent management be appointed to ensure that these funds are capacitated enough to carry out their legal mandates.
COSATU, FEDUSA, SAFTU and NACTU call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to put these social security funds under administration or new management with certain conditionalities and deploy both the Hawks and SIU to investigate allegations of systemic and serious corruption at the UIF and CF. Piecemeal proclamations are not enough. A comprehensive approach is needed to deal with these allegations once and for all.
These social securities are not a slush fund for corruption politicians, officials and businessmen but income replacement for workers when in need. Organised Labour believes it is time to put both social security funds under administration with conditionalities – this must include that the administrator or new management works closely with Organised Labour and Business.
This is a burning crisis that can no longer continue to be ignored, and its resolution deferred. Should our demands not be agreed to and acted upon, we reserve our right to take legal action.
Issued by Organised Labour at NEDLAC
For interviews and enquiries:
Zanele Sabela
Cosatu Spokesperson
079 287 5788/077 600 6639
Betty Moleya
FEDUSA Media and Communications
063 736 5533
Newton Masuku
SAFTU National Spokesperson
066 168 2157
Lehlogonolo Digashu
NACTU
083 538 1270
END.