Nxesi offers special relief to 75K workers who could lose jobs following unrest
Updated | By Nokukhanya N Mntambo
Labour and employment minister Thulas Nxesi says at least 75,000 workers stand to lose their jobs following the unrest that gripped Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal over two weeks ago.
This includes workers faced with temporal layoffs and retrenchments.
Nxesi revealed the staggering figure in a media briefing on Wednesday.
“The Unemployment Insurance Fund has a basket of benefits that can serve as intervention mechanism to the affected workers and companies as a result of the unrests.
“It should be mentioned upfront that there is currently no benefit quite suitable for the current situation, and COVID-19 TERS cannot be applicable as it was established as an intervention for a disaster situation,” said Nxesi.
READ: Alleged unrest instigator Ngizwe Mchunu back in court
He added the department was in the process of drafting a special directive to provide aid for the affected employees.
“The spirit of the directive would be to ensure that workers who would normally not qualify for these benefits due to non-compliance with the Act are able to access the benefits.
“However, I should emphasise that it will not be a free for all, the criteria to determine who qualifies is going to be very stringent and payments will not be generous.
"Whiles it is our desire to pay all affected workers; it should be borne in mind that finance is a limited resource.”
Show's Stories
-
Girl obsessed with her boyfriend is diagnosed with 'Love Brain'
There's being in love and then there's obsession, how do you tell the di...
Danny Guselli 2 hours ago -
Driver crashes McLaren Senna into Lexus dealership
With great speed comes great responsibility...
Danny Guselli 8 hours ago