Dear Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour,

I submitted an online claim to the UIF Department 10 months ago, on November 14, 2022. As a result of an error, there was a discrepancy between the UI19 form declared by my former Employer and U-Filing system, maintained by an outsourced payroll service provider. As a result, the Department requested a letter from my former Employer confirming the reason for my termination. I sent this letter on April 12, 2023. According to feedback received from the CT Labour Centre in July, this was left uncaptured for 4 months, despite continuous follow-ups with and escalations by Alteram every 10 days regarding the status of my claim. On July 27, 2023, after persistently trying to get a response from the Ombudsman and designated UIF officials, I received a request to resubmit all my application documents. One week later, on August 4, 2023, I received an instruction to obtain another letter from my previous Employer that confirms the details on the UI19. I submitted this additional letter to the Department on August 16, 2023. I was informed that I should receive feedback after 14 working days, by Tuesday September 5, 2023. As of today, Monday, September 18, the Department has not responded to multiple requests for feedback.

I kindly request the Committee's assistance with facilitating the urgent finalisation of my claim.

Thanking you in advance.

Kind Regards
Andrea Fortuin
Cape Town