LIMPOPO – The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) in Limpopo has paid out 93 658 unemployment benefits, 4 902 in-service benefits, and 1 210 dependants’ benefits, while also registering 979 new employers during the 2024/25 financial year.

Limpopo UIF deputy director Ronet Landman shared these statistics during a networking session in Polokwane. She explained that although the fund is ready to pay qualifying applicants, several issues frequently delay payments.

The most common challenges include employers failing to declare their employees, applicants providing incorrect information, submitting incomplete documents, or forgetting to sign required forms.

Landman urged applicants to keep their personal details, especially cellphone numbers, up to date, noting that it becomes difficult to verify or finalise claims when contact details are outdated.

Another speaker, Tawana Mashao, highlighted the importance of the Compensation Fund, which assists employees who are injured at work. He encouraged workers to confirm with their employers or visit a labour centre to ensure they are registered.

The Compensation Fund covers medical expenses, burial costs, death benefits, chronic medication, assistive devices, occupational sick leave of up to 24 months, vocational rehabilitation, bursaries for injured employees and their beneficiaries, temporary total disablement, and permanent disablement.

UIF Limpopo director Vuledzani Netshituka emphasised the fund’s impact during the Covid-19 pandemic. “UIF is a national key asset. It fills in the gap when there is a need,” he said.

The UIF offers three main categories of benefits:

• The first is unemployment benefits, which also include reduced working time benefits, where the fund supplements the salary of an employee whose working hours have been cut due to factors affecting the business.
• The second category is in-service benefits, which cover illness, maternity leave, adoption leave, parental leave, and commissioning surrogacy.
• The third category is dependants’ benefits, payable when a UIF-registered member has passed away. Eligible beneficiaries include a spouse or life partner, a guardian of children under 18, children of the deceased who are under 25 and still studying, and any nominated beneficiary. Applications for dependants’ benefits must be submitted within 18 months of the member’s death.

Members of the public are encouraged to visit their nearest labour centre, call 0800 030 007, or visit the Department of Labour website for more information.