The Department of Employment and Labour has showered the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) with praise for being at the forefront of creating jobs.
In a statement on Thursday, the department said in March 2017, the UIF and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) signed the facility and subscription agreement to bring into effect a substantial investment of R5-billion.
The IDC has approved 41 qualifying transactions totaling R2.3-billion, of which R130-million was for companies in distress and relating to job preservation.
The department shared: “So far, the investment has created and saved 8 007 [jobs] by 31 December 2021.
“Although this may seem like a drop in the ocean considering the unemployment rate increase of 7.6% in the third quarter of 2021, what is important to note is that these jobs were created in the tough economic environment where the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy.”
The department added that it had managed to secure jobs and relieve over 5-million employees through the Covid-19 TERS Relief Scheme, mentioning that this would not have been possible without the support from the Public Investment Corporation.
“Drawing cash from these investments to fund Covid-19 TERS has come at a cost as our investment declined by 24% from R151-billion to R115-billion by end of March 2021.”
The department further reiterated that the fund was in a good financial condition, saying its assets had increased by R9-billion by December 31 2021, which enabled the fund to cover all claims and administrative costs.
According to the department, the fund set aside R5.8-billion to pay for reassessment of the fund benefit claims filed between January 19 2017 to December 31 2018.
It said: “This step is taken because the fund delayed implementing the 2016 Amendment Act due to operational challenges, which resulted in short payments of many beneficiaries who submitted claims during this period.
“The support for small and medium enterprises is very critical as it is where most jobs are created. It is gratifying to note that 1 171 jobs were created from transactions concluded with small and medium enterprises.
“Companies with women ownership make up eight transactions that created and saved 835 jobs and 713 jobs, respectively.”
The department also said it recognises the fundamental transformation of the economy to the success of the country.
In addition, it confirmed that job creation, skills development, and supporting entrepreneurship for the unemployed youth has received a great boost when Thulas Nxesi, the Minister of Labour Department, launched an employment initiative at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, worth R551-million.
The department said: “Addressing the launch, Nxesi said all efforts to create employment in South Africa should be strongly welcomed considering the high levels of unemployment in the country.
“Therefore, all UIF employment projects must be linked to employment creation because we do not want learners to idle at home upon completion of the employment initiatives.”
Furthermore, it said over 14 000 beneficiaries have been employed by the department of education in KwaZulu-Natal. “The fund will continue all efforts within available resources to save and create jobs.”
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