Latest news with #UIF
TimesLIVE
06-06-2025
- TimesLIVE
‘R130m security training was waste of time': Parliament committee calls for suspension of PSiRA director and CFO
'They told us we'd be qualified for jobs in law enforcement and security, but when the programme ended, we didn't get certificates and the training providers vanished.' This is how Roxanne Hyster, a Cape Town resident, described her time spent in a controversial employment initiative managed by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) and funded by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to the tune of R130m. She is one of 6,507 unemployed people who completed the training but never received certificates or accreditation. The UIF training project was meant to upskill unemployed individuals in the security-related field and with computer skills to improve their employability. 'It was a waste of my time. I spent two months practically playing with them,' the 35-year-old said. Hyster remains unemployed. On Wednesday parliament's portfolio committee on policy called for the suspension of the director and CFO of PSiRA after revelations of irregularities and possible fraud involving the R130m project.
Daily Maverick
04-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
‘We haven't recovered a cent' – private security watchdog says R129m UIF-linked training fund ‘lost'
South Africa's private security watchdog is at the centre of a multimillion-rand matter stemming from 2019, involving 'material irregularities' and the non-delivery of services. Watchdog head Manabela Chauke has told Parliament that not a cent has been recovered. The Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (Psira) has come under fire in Parliament over a 2019 training initiative involving more than R129-million that has led to red flags being raised over 'irregularities'. MPs have also demanded to know why the situation is still dragging on and has not been fully dealt with after six years. One suggested calling for suspensions with immediate effect because the overall situation was hampering young jobseekers. Another proposed that Psira's board be relieved of its duties to make way for fresh faces. The matter involves a nearly R130-million contract linked to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), discussed in a police committee meeting on Wednesday, 4 June 2025. Setting the tone of Wednesday's meeting was what happened earlier on social media. Social media sparring Two days before, on 2 June, the police committee chair Ian Cameron took to Facebook. He posted that the committee was set to interrogate Psira 'over deeply concerning allegations involving the misuse of over R144-million in public funds.' Cameron's post continued: 'The money, allocated via the UIF's Labour Activation Programme, was intended to fund digital training for unemployed citizens through a service provider… 'What followed raises red flags… Learners listed in attendance registers have since denied participating. No training certificates have been issued. Facilitators remain unpaid. Tablets budgeted for the project were never delivered.' Psira then hit back. On its X account, Psira said it noted Cameron's Facebook post and had to 'set the record straight'. We've noted recent social media posts by the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police concerning PSiRA's material irregularity matter. We respect parliamentary oversight, but must set the record straight on key facts and legal process. — IG: PSiRALive (@PSiRALive) June 3, 2025 In a series of tweets, it stated: 'This matter is now under legal and forensic investigation. While Parliament is free to oversee progress, delving into the merits of the case risks violating the separation of powers and prejudicing legal proceedings. 'It is deeply concerning that a presiding Chairperson would publish judgmental statements on an active matter. Public office bearers are expected to uphold fairness and impartiality in all oversight processes. 'We've formally requested that the Chairperson recuse himself from the 04 June 2025 session in the interest of transparency and due process.' Despite Psira's social media posts and stance, Cameron chaired Wednesday's police committee meeting. 'We've recovered nothing yet' Irate MPs spoke out at the hearing. Several figures – some relating to payments Psira had made – were also discussed as the MPs tried to extract more information from the private security watchdog. At one point during the meeting, Makashule Gana of Rise Mzansi asked Psira head Manebela Chauke about how much money it had recovered. Chauke responded: 'We've just said we've appointed a forensic investigation. 'We've come up with a report, out of the report, preliminarily we've issued a letter of demand which has lapsed on the 26th of May… 'So, the answer is we've not yet recovered anything.' Gana pushed him on this point, asking him to confirm if, 'at the moment you have recovered zero.' Chauke replied: 'I'm not sure if my answer is not audible – we have not recovered a cent. We are in the process of recovery.' 'Likely financial loss' and suspensions A Psira presentation on the matter was shown at Wednesday's meeting. It said that in April 2019, Psira had signed a 'funding agreement' with the UIF to 'implement a national training initiative.' Between October 2019 and February 2022, advance payments were made 'to the appointed service provider before actual training begins as agreed and in compliance [with] Treasury regulations.' The presentation said that in March 2023, the Auditor-General of South Africa identified 'a likely financial loss due to non-delivery of services and weak contract oversight'. A few months later, in August 2023, the project resumed and 'the number of trained learners significantly' increased. The presentation said that after several other processes, a forensic report was finalised and submitted to the Auditor-General in March 2025. 'Two officials illegally accessed the forensic investigation report without authorisation,' it said. Both officials were suspended. R129m training contract An Auditor-General presentation was also shown during Wednesday's meeting and provided more details about the April 2019 agreement between Psira and the UIF. It involved the security watchdog acting as an agent and, over six months, providing 'Election Observer and End-User Computing training' for 7,071 preselected individuals on behalf of the UIF. 'The value of the contract was R129,982,657.50,' the Auditor-General's presentation said. Psira also entered into a service-level agreement with a supplier to provide the same training on behalf of the UIF. This covered April to June 2019, a date later extended, and the contract amount was valued at 'R80,062,877.00.' 'Material irregularity' The Auditor-General presentation said: 'During [the] 2021/22 financial year, Psira paid an amount of R15-million to the supplier. 'This payment was not supported by sufficient evidence to enable us to verify the occurrence of the transaction.' In 2023, a follow-up audit was done on the transaction, and it was noted that Psira made follow-up payments to the supplier. An invoice dated May 2019 reflected R2-million, another from October that year showed an amount of nearly R55-million, and an invoice from February 2022 showed R15-million. 'Through [the] audit process, we discovered that the supplier had not yet rendered services equivalent to the payments made,' the Auditor-General presentation said. 'As a result, an amount of R30,182,839.73 was made as an advance payment to the supplier before the services were rendered.' This contravened a Treasury regulation. 'This advance payment resulted in material irregularity,' the Auditor-General presentation said. According to the presentation, a progress report requested in September last year showed that 6,507 learners had been trained. It added: 'Psira terminated the contract with the supplier due to indicators of fraud and misrepresentation. 'Termination took effect from 20 May 2024.' 'Young people disadvantaged' During Wednesday's meeting, MPs were critical. The DA's Dianne Kohler Barnard pointed out that the matter was 'dragging on and on'. Lisa Schickerling, also of the DA, said: 'It cannot take six years to determine wrongdoing. There's something seriously wrong here.' She said the situation was so worrying that the police committee should request that the Psira board be relieved of its duties and a new one put in place 'to ensure that everything in Psira is running smoothly'. Schickerling said: 'We are losing money. The country is losing money. The citizens of this country are paying tax. And we are here to protect that money.' ActionSA's Dereleen James said she understood that the beneficiaries of 'these opportunities'(presumably the training initiative that Psira was involved in, and the focus of Wednesday's meeting) were usually between the ages of 18 and 35 years old. 'How does this affect our communities – what has happened here today?' she asked. 'We cannot just sit and accept that the youth of this country has been disadvantaged because of corruption and because of lack of leadership,' James said. DM
IOL News
29-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Labour unions demand action against security companies for failing to pay employee benefits
Members of various labour unions marched in Pietermaritzburg to the provincial legislature to demand that the provincial government blacklist security companies that are not contributing to their employees' benefits despite deducting from salaries. Image: Bongani Hans KwaZulu-Natal government-contracted security companies have been accused of not contributing to their employees' medical aid, provident funds, and Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) despite deducting from their salaries for that purpose. A group of labour unions, including the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), marched to the provincial legislature on Tuesday demanding the provincial government to blacklist 41 companies alleged to be shortchanging their employees. The Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) was also aware of such illegal practice. 'We refer such complaints to the National Bargaining Council of the Private Security Sector (NBCPSS) for investigations and possibly recouping such monies. 'A lot of them (companies) claim to have registered with the provident fund and UIF, but do not pay it (employees' deductions) over to such institutions, but such businesses are taken to task by NBCPSS and PSiRA,' said PSiRA spokesperson Bonang Kleinbooi. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ During the protest march, five unions that were affiliated with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) handed a memorandum to the provincial legislature for Premier Thami Ntuli's attention. Ntuli's spokesperson, Bongani Gina, commended the unions for providing the government with a list of transgressing companies that were contracted by various departments. He said the government would work with the NBCPSS in investigating the matter. 'This matter requires a detailed assessment of each contract. 'The Office of the Premier assures the unions and the public that this matter will receive the attention it deserves, and we look forward to working towards a resolution that protects the rights and welfare of security guards,' said Gina. The unions said the 41 companies were among more than 1,500 others in the province that were breaching the NBCPSS collective agreement. 'Fraudulent deductions affect about 90,000 active security officers in KwaZulu-Natal, depriving them of their rightful benefits, such as health insurance and a provident fund, because of these dishonest and irregular and fraudulent deductions,' read the memorandum. 'They alleged that the security guards, who were mostly poorly paid, would lose R15.5 million in medical cover, R65.9 million of provident fund, and over R13 million of UIF per month to 'these unscrupulous and corrupt security companies'. 'This has a negative impact on security officers when they retire or have their contracts terminated,' said the unions. According to the NBCPSS's Main Collective Agreement, which is governed by the Labour Relations Act (LRA), security companies should be registered with the Private Security Sector Fund (PSSPF) and NBCPSS Health Insurance and also pay basic salaries, including allowances, overtime, and levies. 'This grand theft, fraud, and exploitation of security officers is not only a general disregard of the law but a major risk to the reputation of the provincial government,' unions said. They called on Ntuli to ensure that the government departments were not participating in the exploitation of security officers. 'As the custodian of the provincial purse, the premier should be the first to always remember his obligations in terms of the LRA and adopt measures to promote, protect, and fulfil workers' rights as enshrined in the Main Collective Agreement.' South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) secretary Nothemba Dlamini said some security guards would not receive their salaries for up to three months. South African National Security Employers Association (SANSEA) secretary Steve Condadie stated that some companies that are affiliated with his association were also victims of the government department's delay in paying for services. But he stressed that companies that were not transferring deductions to the relevant entities were acting illegally. 'One or two companies that are affiliated with us have said they were not involved in failing to transfer the deductions. 'But they said the provincial government was delaying in paying for the services they rendered on time, with one of them saying it has not been paid since December last year,' said Condadie.
The Citizen
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Looming tax deadline and glitches cause frustration
Additional measures were implemented to help taxpayers stay compliant – and if not for the 'procrastinators' the problem 'could have been fixed' by now. The chances of an extension to Friday's deadline are slim. Picture: AdobeStock In the run-up to this year's filing season, employers are battling to meet the deadline for submission of their annual employer reconciliation declarations to the South African Revenue Service (Sars). The deadline is Friday. Employers experienced glitches after Sars released an updated version of e@syFile, the software used to reconcile and validate the payroll data and electronic employee tax certificates submitted to Sars. Employers submit monthly declarations, and the annual declaration (EMP501) reflects all the payments made in terms of employee pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax, Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) contributions, and employee tax incentive (ETI) and skills development (SDL) levies. ALSO READ: 'Sars needs to play catch up,' says Kieswetter as tax collector goes digital System issues The system error forced Sars to make additional channels and measures available to enable employers to submit their information on time, says Ettiene Retief, independent tax specialist. The new version created 'unexpected' issues where employers were unable to submit their EMP501 returns. Following complaints from several recognised controlling bodies that represent tax practitioners, Sars acknowledged the problems. It gave employers access to the older version when they could not solve their issues with the new version, and addressed issues through a dedicated email support channel. Retief says the newer version might have been incompatible with specific anti-virus programmes used by employers or tax practitioners. System updates by employer payroll systems may also have caused the incompatibility with e@syFile. 'There are also procrastinators. We have had two months to deal with issues – if people started engaging earlier, the problem could have been fixed already,' he adds. ALSO READ: Sars beats expectations by collecting R1.855 trillion in 2024/25 tax year The go-between The Sars e@syFile software plays 'middleman' in the validation and reconciliation of the employer's payroll system and the validation of the electronic IRP5 tax certificate that is submitted to Sars. This enables Sars to pre-populate the tax returns of almost four million individual taxpayers, and those with more complicated tax affairs can submit their tax returns with correct tax information. According to Sars, the three elements that must reconcile for employer submissions include: Monthly employer declarations submitted (PAYE, SDL, UIF and ETI); Payments made (excluding penalty and interest payments); and IRP5/IT3(a)s generated. The chances of an extension of Friday's deadline are slim. Sars only has a month to process the information and start pre-populating tax returns for the start of the July filing season. 'If one deadline moves, it moves everything and that causes its own complications,' says Retief. Another system glitch that frustrated taxpayers and practitioners last month was the inability to upload documentation relating to value-added tax (Vat) returns. 'As far as I am aware the issues were addressed.' ALSO READ: Sars records increase in taxpayers who filed returns Refund delays André Daniels, head of tax controversy and dispute resolution at Tax Consulting SA, says taxpayers and tax practitioners alike are reporting a surge in delayed refunds. Sars is citing 'pending verifications or audits' – but only after a manual status check is performed. 'This is not a procedural glitch – this is a systemic failure with serious financial implications,' Daniels said in a recent statement. In many cases Sars has requested further verification documentation without issuing any formal notification through eFiling or via email. 'Making matters worse, there is often no link available to upload the required documents because no verification or audit letter was ever generated.' Daniels says even if the link is provided and documentation uploaded, additional assessments are subsequently issued, stating that the 'burden of proof' was not discharged. His advice to taxpayers is to act proactively and to confirm whether any verifications or audits have been raised behind the scenes. He also advises taxpayers to use the dispute resolution steps to correct assessments where appropriate. Retief notes that Sars is constantly upgrading, adding and changing its systems and programmes as part of its modernisation and digitalisation drive. It is normal that there will be glitches. Sars is generally alerted to problems and issues through the different representative bodies. 'I know there were issues, but Sars was quick to respond and solve some of it.' This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
IOL News
27-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Urgent intervention by KZN Cogta as Mpendle Municipality fails to pay full salaries
The Mpendle Local Municipality failed to pay its employees their full salaries this month. Image: Pixabay The Mpendle Local Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands has failed to pay full salaries and benefits to its workers this month. The revelations have angered labour union federation Cosatu who said they hoped this situation will not occur in other municipalities. The Officer of the Auditor-General South Africa has recently raised concerns about the financial woes of some KZN municipalities. A Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) official stated that in all his years with the department in KwaZulu-Natal, this was the first time he had ever heard of a municipality not paying workers' wages and benefits in full. In a statement, the Cogta department said: "Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs department MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has assigned senior officials to engage with the leadership of the Mpendle Local Municipality. This action follows reports indicating the municipality's inability to fully compensate its employees." It said the department has received concerning information regarding the municipality's financial standing, including: Partial salary payments to workers Failure to remit third-party deductions, such as UIF, pension fund contributions, and medical aid payments Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The department said these actions have caused unnecessary hardship for the workers in the municipality, who now find themselves without their due compensation and benefits. It said Cogta's senior officials would meet with the municipality's leadership to ascertain the root causes of the financial irregularities and the steps being taken to correct them, as well as to implement consequence management. The department said the MEC remained committed to ensuring that all municipalities within the province adhere to their constitutional obligations and uphold principles of good governance and fiscal discipline. The department said it will implement necessary mechanisms to ensure compliance and accountability. Labour union federation Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said they had been made aware of the situation on Monday.
