Business Unity South Africa said it was "gravely concerned" about the systemic dysfunction at the Unemployment Insurance Fund which it said was putting the livelihoods of workers at risk.
"The ineptitude of the UIF to fulfill its promises has led to workplace disruption and had a negative impact on the employer-employee relationship," said BUSA CEO, Cas Coovadia, in a hard-hitting statement.
"Of major concern is the fact that calls for the authorities to intervene have gone unheeded," he said.
Coovadia said BUSA has been engaging the government, together with labour, at Nedlac to try and resolve serious systemic dysfunction and alleged corruption in the administration of the UIF office.
He said these engagements have been going on for the last three years and no progress has been made due to the inability or unwillingness of the UIF Commissioner to address the systemic issues.
"BUSA has also written to the Minister of Employment and Labour several times, but we have not received any positive responses".
Coovadia said the systemic issues at the UIF office have been publicly revealed recently by news that questionable investments have put at risk billions of rands that should be allocated to workers in distress.
"This, especially at a time when poor economic conditions due to load-shedding, escalating inflation, and diminishing consumer demand, are likely to lead to employees being placed on short-time or potentially even laid off," he said.
"For impacted individuals, the safety net afforded by the UIF benefits scheme is not guaranteed," Coovadia said.
BUSA said the systemic dysfunction has also resulted in lengthy delays in application processes, including via online systems, receiving incorrect information, or constant changes in requirements.
"Special schemes, including C19 TERS, Workers Affected by Unrest (WABU), and others designed to support affected individuals, whilst positive in their intention, remain to a significant extent ineffective as hundreds of thousands of applications remain unresolved," he said.
