About two months ago in a parliamentary labour portfolio committee meeting I brought the possibility of thousands of employees being put on leave because of the coronavirus. This question was posed to the commissioner of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, in the presence of the responsible minister. UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping assured the committee that the department was ready to tackle the thousands of applications that might come forward.
It now appears that while the funding is not a problem, the department is completely dysfunctional. Over and above this the minister, in his wisdom, decided to spell out a situation to the nation that is not correct, telling employees that they are entitled to their salaries while told to stay at home during lockdown. Not only is this incorrect, it is probably one of the most damaging pieces of fake news the labour community has heard...
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