The short answer
You should lay a complaint against the UIF at the Department of Employment and Labour.
The long answer
This is a completely unacceptable and disgraceful state of affairs – and so many people are struggling with exactly what you are struggling with. Moneyweb said in an article on 20 September 2023 that one frustrated claimant had said that getting through to the UIF was "like banging your head against a brick wall".
"A key thread among all the complaints is the feeling of being sent from pillar to post by the fund, a process characterised by poor communication, an endless cycle of resubmitting documents, and poor assistance from call centre agents," said Moneyweb. One person’s unpaid claim went as far back as 2020.
Why is this happening?
It seems that the UIF has been dysfunctional for some ten years, continuously receiving disclaimer audit opinions from the Auditor-General (AG), according to a report on 6 September 2022 from the parliamentary monitoring group. (A disclaimer audit means that the AG could not make head or tail of the UIF’s finances.)
When a Parliamentary Committee visited the UIF’s offices a few years back, they found a mass of emails and a huge call centre backlog, and no answers about how the UIF was assisting people who had been waiting for a long time for their claims to be paid.
The UIF Commissioner at the time, Teboho Maruping, said the problem was that the UIF had to use the technology of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), which was often down.
Maruping was put on precautionary suspension on 13 September 2024 in connection with a now-cancelled R5-billion contract with Thuja Holdings. He is still on suspension in 2025 and in ongoing disciplinary hearings, charged with serious allegations of dishonesty, recklessness and negligence, IOL reported on 18 February 2025.
The acting UIF Commissioner, Mzie Yawa, who was the chief director of corporate services before, is also seemingly compromised. Before Maruping was suspended, he got complaints from the unions about Yawa’s hiring practices. Sunday World reported on 27 January 2025 that the Department of Labour was ducking questions about the jobs-for-pals scandal.
On 6 December 2024, Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), which represents business in NEDLAC (the National Economic and Labour Council), said that it had called for UIF to be put under government administration a year ago because of its operational inefficiencies and governance failures. BUSA said the job of the UIF is to pay unemployment benefits, which it is not doing.
There were high hopes when the new Minister of Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, was appointed, but nothing seems to have changed. Thousands of workers are still waiting desperately for their money.
So what can you do?
If you have not already tried these, here are the recommended Department of Employment and Labour contact details for laying a complaint against UIF:
For UIF: 080 003 0007
Emails: uifcallcenter@labour.gov.za, ufiling@labour.gov.za, or uifcomplaints@labour.gov.za
If you get no help there, you could contact the Presidential Hotline, which is an end-of-the-line option to complain about government services, when you have tried everything else:
Toll-free number: 17737
Email address: president@presidency.gov.za
If that too doesn’t work, perhaps you should consult an organisation that gives free paralegal advice, like the Black Sash.
These are their contact details:
Email: help@blacksash.org.za and info@blacksash.org.za
Helpline: 072 66 33 73, 072 633 3739 or 063 610 1865.
You could also consult Legal Aid, which is a means-tested organisation that must assist people who can’t afford a lawyer. These are their contact details:
Tel: 0800 110 110 (Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm)
Please Call Me: 079 835 7179
Wishing you the best,
Athalie
Answered on May 23, 2025, 10:06 a.m.
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