The reply by Minister Nomakhosazana Meth, Minister of Employment and Labour, to a question by the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) that all maternity leave claims in South Africa are fully up to date – except for the current year – cannot be taken seriously.
The party regularly receives complaints from women across the country who have, in some cases, waited years for their maternity leave claims to pay out. Many turn to social media to voice their frustrations.
Even among the party’s own staff there are individuals fighting ongoing battles over unpaid claims, which have been delayed for over a year.
Women who qualify through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) can claim payments for four months if their salary is not fully paid by their employer during their maternity leave.
The Minister’s assertion that there is not a single outstanding claim, apart from the current financial year’s, is simply not true. Given the ANC’s track record of poor service delivery, it is hard to believe that one Department functions so flawlessly.
The Freedom Front Plus asked the Minister how many maternity benefit claims were submitted to the UIF since the 2023/24 financial year to date, the total number of claims paid out each year, the number of claims still outstanding and the reasons for delays.
Her reply indicated that in the 2023/24 financial year, 99 945 claims were received and 187 909 payments were made (totalling R1 715 691 370,41), with no backlog. (Note that there may be multiple payments per claim.)
In 2024/25, 119 893 claims were received and 220 810 payments were made (R1 766 658 896,37), with no backlog.
In the current financial year, 30 708 claims have been received and 62 218 payments amounting to R5 050 183 833,83 have been made, with 2 626 claims still pending.
According to the Minister, the current backlog is mainly due to incomplete applications, particularly regarding the UI19 form (declaration).
A recurring issue is that employers record employees as “active” even after they go on maternity leave, instead of providing an employment termination reason and date on the UI19 form.
Consequently, the employee’s status reflects continued employment, causing discrepancies during claim assessments that delay processing.
Additionally, claimants submit incomplete applications or lack required supporting documents, further complicating the assessment process and “significantly contributing” to the backlog of unprocessed claims.
The Minister claims these issues are addressed by reporting cases to employer services for follow-up with employers and contacting claimants to provide outstanding documents.
The Freedom Front Plus agrees that claimants should ensure they meet these requirements, but the reality paints a different picture.
Claimants often receive no feedback after submitting claims, struggle to reach officials, and come up against a wall of incompetence and red tape.
Submitted documents are lost, not processed and must be resubmitted repeatedly. This is the reality the Freedom Front Plus knows.
Unfortunately, there is no record of the extent of the problem. The Department pretends its work is up to date, but the party has reason to believe the backlogs are substantial.
Individuals experiencing issues can contact Misha-Lamé Gericke at mgericke@vfplus.org.za.
