We would like to inform you about a recent development announced by the Minister of Employment and Labour regarding the temporary disruption of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) online services.
On 30 August 2024, the Pretoria High Court issued a ruling concerning a service provider responsible for the UIF online portals. The court has placed an interim interdict on the new service provider, effectively halting their ability to manage the UIF online services. This disruption affects the following platforms:
- uFiling
- Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)
- Virtual Office
- UIF Covid-19 TERS Systems
Impact on Services:
While the Siyaya system remains operational, its functionality is severely limited due to the disruptions.
Here’s what this means:
- uFiling: The system is currently down and unable to feed data to the Siyaya system. This impacts the processing of foreign employees’ data and affects most small businesses.
- UIF Claims: No new UIF claims can be submitted as this is done through the Virtual Office system, which is also down. Consequently, all UIF branches are unable to assist clients at this time.
- Payment Gateway: Perhaps the most critical issue is the payment gateway being offline, meaning very few people will receive their UIF payments over the next two weeks. This is expected to cause significant disruptions at Labour Centres.
Minister Meth has welcomed the court’s decision and has assured UIF clients and stakeholders that the capacity at UIF service points will be increased, with extended operating hours to ensure that all applications and submissions are processed promptly.
The Minister recognises the potential increase in client volumes at these service points and sincerely apologises for any delays or inconvenience caused by the disruption. The department, under the Minister’s guidance, is committed to investigating the root causes of these disruptions to prevent similar incidents in the future. Appropriate action will be taken as needed.
“We appeal for patience and cooperation from all affected members of the public and stakeholders during this time. We will provide further updates on the resumption of online services as soon as possible,” stated Minister Meth.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this period and will keep you updated with any further developments.
Read the full media statement here.
