R515 million TERS audit sparks outrage among SA companies over alleged mismanagement

HUNDREDS of companies are up in arms over a “mismanaged” audit process, worth R515 million, launched by the Department of Labour and Employment (DEL) to probe potential theft of benefits provided to workers across South Africa during Covid-19.

- NICOLA MAWSON

The Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (TERS), administered by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), was implemented to assist employers to pay employees who were employed but not working because of the lockdown.

The TERS program, administered by UIE paid out R57 billion to 13.4 million workers through 1.1 million companies during the pandemic, according to minutes from a November 2021 Standing Committee on Public Accounts Parliamentary Committee Meeting.

These benefits, research by UNU Wider states, saved at least two million jobs. However, Corruption Watch, summing up various investigations by law enforcement officials, stated in March this year that R351 million was siphoned off during the scheme’s two-year run, with only R229 million recovered. Criminal investigations are set to conclude in December.

Among the fraudulent types of activities already uncovered included the use of fake ID documents, ID documents from dead people, claims for people who were temporarily employed, and benefits being claimed for “former employees, whom the Special Investigating Unit found to have been incarcerated at the time,” said Corruption Watch.