Dear Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour,

I appied more than a year ago for my UIF benefits- I went on pension May 2023. After 26 email correspondences, multiple telephone calls (I stopped counting) and 3 visits to UIF offices in Pretoria, my case was closed with only receiving 22% of my benefits.
There is no fixed system in place: every employee of Labour has a different set of rules and the answer is always "they will escalate" the matter.
At the Attridgeville office there is chaos and every one is treated most of the time rude. As pensioner I stood in the sun for 6 hours at Attridgeville and my request to use a chair was denied.
The rows at the Pretoria office stand for blocks as the Mamelodi office was closed.
When speaking to other people, I realised my case is the norm at UIF.
My biggest concern however is for the poorest of poorest: they need to pay transport to get to the offices just to get the same answers and treatment and nothing happen. Some people will tell you they received their benefits more than a year after their application. A lot of people just gave up.
Someone told me they got a number of someone at Labour who assisted them but at a price they had to pay.
People who apply for UIF benefits have the right to receive these benefits as they have paid for the benefits. It also has no sense for them to wait a year (if they are lucky) as they need the money immediately after they lost their job or woman who are on maternity leave - these are mostly people in serious need.

I realised that, maybe no one is aware of this because this very poor people do not know what to do and that I need to stand up for the those very poor people who do not receive in time what is lawfully their right.

I have proof of my allegations above.
Thank you that we can have the confident in the DA to assist with serious matters like this.

Kind regards
Soekie Maré