On Thursday the 23rd June, the unemployment Insurance Fund engaged members of the media in a series of oversight visits to businesses the UIF funds in order to provide employment
Beyond
paying out benefits, the UIF also focuses on getting people back to work. It
funds employment and skills support through job centers, CV assistance, job
listings, training programs, learnerships, and internships via the Labour
Activation Programme.
The visits included a tour to the UIF Labour Centre, where the Western Cape Provincial Director for the UIF, Bhele Mzinyathi, briefly explained the process of receiving funds in the event of resignation.
Mzinyathi said one can
receive funding on the basis of constructive dismissal. This is when an
employee resigns because their employer made continued employment intolerable
“In that case then there is an alternative you are able to apply for the benefit, but you must follow the process of taking the matter to the CCMA and prove that you were forced to resign,” explained, Mzinyathi
The tour also included a visit to House of Boniwe, a Labour Activation Programme-funded, Black-owned enterprise focused on skills development, economic participation, and inclusive growth. Funded by the UIF, House of Boniwe has trained over three thousand students, many of whom have been placed in workplaces for a period of time.
HOB CEO, Gwen Jacob, believes that partners like the Unemployment Insurance Fund enables them to create skills training and more job opportunities
“Something that is a challenge in South Africa is unemployment, so looking towards the future is to play even a bigger role in creating sustainable work opportunity through our partners that enables us to do this. We can only play the role that we pay through our funders otherwise we are limited in what we can do” Gwen Jacobs.
Tobin Collins who is a student
at House of Boniwe shared his gratitude to an opportunity like this: “we have
so many unemployed youth, just to have access to an agency that is there for you
shows that there is light and that’s all I can say to the young people out
there” Collins.
The UIF has also invested in
Green Riders — a programme training previously unemployed youth to become
certified delivery drivers.
With centres across Dunoon,
Langa, Gugulethu, Nyanga, Athlone, Fisantekraal and Mitchells Plain, the
company is opening doors for young men and women.
Through initiatives such as
the Labour Activation Programme, in partnership with organisations like House
Of Boniwe and Green Riders, the UIF is facilitating skills development and
creating pathways to employment for previously unemployed youth across the Western
Cape.
Done By: Elona Sibunzi
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