While UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping admits that the government organisation is feeling the pressure of tourism organisations lobbying for continued financial relief, he said this relief may not be feasible.
During the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan webinar held on Friday August 14 by the Department of Tourism, he said: “UIF has reached the R40bn mark on its Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) pay-outs and the TBCSA is putting pressure on us for more relief for the tourism sector. But I am not sure if it will be financially feasible.”
TERS was extended to August 15 in mid-July.
“I am estimating that for July and August we could spend between R10bn and R16bn. We are caught in a delicate balance of spending money to make money as we were already in a weak economic state as a country before COVID-19.”
He noted that R14,1bn was earmarked for female employees or female-owned businesses in the sector.
“The Minister of Tourism touched on the surplus the UIF had at the beginning of this year and it has already been used for this particular crisis,” said Teboho. “We need to ensure that UIF continues to survive for similar crises in the future.”
TBCSA ceo, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, said by day 140 of the national lockdown (Friday, August 14) more than R400bn in revenue had been lost to the tourism sector.
“There are around 600 000 people directly employed in the tourism sector who are currently relying on UIF, and it’s coming to an end,” said Tshifhiwa. “If nothing else is put on the table, there will be continued devastation in terms of job losses. There are already high levels of retrenchment.” He estimates that tourism companies have had to retrench 50% to 80% of their staff.
He agreed with the Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, about the fact that the sector needed to learn to adjust and adapt to live with COVID-19, but emphasised the need for a set date around the reopening of the sector.
“We need domestic travel – in the full sense of the word, which includes interprovincial travel – to open up,” said Tshifhiwa, noting that the industry was committed to doing so in a responsible way, ensuring all the health and safety protocols were followed.
“From a profit perspective, we won’t even break even this year, let alone next year. It’s going to be tough, but we are resilient.”
The Minister could not provide a specific opening date, pointing out that the decision was not hers to make.
