Cape Town — The Minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, placed the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Commissioner, Tebogo Maruping, on precautionary suspension.
Maruping was placed on temporary precaution on Friday following a briefing received by Acting SDirector General (DG), Viwe Mlenzana, a statement read.
Maruping faces charges which emanated inter alia, from his alleged role in the conclusion of the R5 billion deal between the UIF and Thuja Holding, led by Mthunzi Mdwaba,
The agreement was declared invalid and set aside by the Pretoria High Court in May 2024.
“The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCAA) further dismissed, with costs, the subsequent appeal that was lodged by Mr Mdwaba on 15 August 2024. This agreement caused a public outcry, especially in the employment and labour sector,” Department spokesperson, Thibeka Magcal, said.
Magcal added that the disciplinary process will be dealt with expeditiously and the administration will give undivided attention to the primary mandate of the UIF. of providing short-term relief to unemployed workers who are unable to do so.
She mandated Mlenzana to deal with the systematic challenges within the Department so that it could respond to the unemployment challenges in the country.
Meth added that she was mindful of the UIF challenges that negatively impact workers and the unemployed, and assured the public that work is being done to respond to these challenges adequately.
Unemployment Insurance Commissioner Tebogo Maruping was suspended over his role in a R5bn deal between the unemployment insurance fund and Thuja Holdings.
This suspension, although precautionary, was announced today by employment minister, Nomakhosazana Meth.@SowetanLIVE pic.twitter.com/MaGvW7ceEW
— Koena Mashale (@Koena_xM) September 13, 2024
According to IOL, this is the second time that Maruping has been suspended following a suspension in September 2020.
He was suspended following an Auditor-General (AG) report that found issues with the payment of the Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme.
When he was reinstated in 2022, the Department said investigations by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) found that he did not benefit through corrupt or fraudulent means.
At the time of his reinstatement in 2022, the Department of Employment and Labour said that following investigations by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), he was found not to have benefited from COVID-19 TERS through corrupt or fraudulent means.
The suspension of Maruping comes after disruptions to the uFiling platforms which has resulted in delays.
According to a UIF statement, an interdict from the Pretoria High Court prevented a service provider from implementing a new contract for support and maintenance services to the uFiling platform therefore the platform has been suspended.
The department said that as a result, the UIF online platforms that were disrupted include uFiling, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Virtual Office, and UIF Covid-19 TERS systems.
Due to the issues with the uFiling platform, UIF extended their operating hours.
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Picture: Facebook/Teboho Maruping
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
