The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) paid more than R172 Million to more than 40,000 former teaching assistants in KwaZulu-Natal since November 2022. The assistants were entitled to receive UIF relief as they made contributions to the UIF while they were working.
The 40,113 former assistants were employed during the first three phases of the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI). The BEEI was the Department of Basic Education (DBE) efforts under the Presidential Employment Initiative (PYEI) which aims to combat youth unemployment by creating employment opportunities for young people.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) continues to implement the BEEI in 2023. However, youth employed during the first three phases of the initiative were not considered for teaching assistant positions as the department sought to employ youth who were not part of the programme.
This announcement meant that thousands of former BEEI participants are now unemployed. These young people are encouraged to apply for UIF unemployment benefits.
When their [teaching assistants] contracts ended, the former employees qualified to claim unemployment insurance benefits from the UIF.
The UIF provides short-term financial assistance to unemployed individuals who previously made contributions to the fund. All employees who work for more than 24 hours per month are required to contribute 1% of their monthly salary to the fund. An additional 1% is paid to the UIF by their employer.
These contributions can be accessed when an employee becomes unemployed or has lost income due to illness or parental leave. The benefits may also be accessed by the dependents of a deceased UIF contributor.
Teaching Assistants can submit unemployment benefit applications on the uFiling Website or the nearest labour centre. The UIF says that the turnaround time to process a claim submitted by an applicant is 15 working days. Payment will be made 30 days from the date of termination of service.
UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping says they are committed to improving their services during workers' months. This will include leveraging technology and fostering partnerships to streamline the process of applying and paying benefits to UIF claimants.
