Covid-19 TERS payments probe remains ongoing
Companies and employers that benefited from TERS payments are urged to comply with forensic auditors
FORENSIC auditors last week resumed their investigations into whether Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) funds allocated to companies were distributed to employees.
The investigation, which was temporarily suspended during the festive season, is tracking the authenticity of TERS claims and whether indeed paid over to workers.
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‘Over the past few months, we have seen with great disappointment that some companies received the Covid–19 TERS benefits, but failed to pay it over to their workers.
‘There are also allegations that employers were paying part of the money and not the full amount, as well as companies using the money for something else other than the intended purpose,’ said Acting Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Commissioner, Marsha Bronkhorst.
The UIF has disbursed R55.6-billion in payments to millions of workers from 1.1 million applications since the onset of lockdown in March.
This figure includes just over R2-billion paid to 491 410 foreign nationals from 95 834 applications by employers.
Bronkhorst said although the intention has always been to support companies that could not pay their employees during the pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the fund had a plan to ‘follow the money’.
‘The plan was always to conduct a comprehensive audit of all the payments. I am therefore urging all companies and employers who have benefited from Covid-19 TERS to co-operate with the forensic auditors and supply all the required information within the specified time frames.
‘Failure to comply will lead to legal action,’ the Acting Commissioner said.
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