…as 4,000 applications are rejected
Staff Writer
The Social Security Commission (SSC) says it has paid over N$22 million to 6,000 employees whose jobs and incomes were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic under its stimulus package.
This comes as the commissions received 16,000 applicants of which 4,000 have been rejected and 6,000 are currently undergoing verification.
Quizzed on the high number of rejections, SSC’s Senior Manager: Communications & Marketing, Unomengi Kauapirura said, “the applications were rejected for various reasons including that the employee’s salary may not have been impacted on and thus the employees is still receiving their full salary or were earning more than N$50,000 per annum,” told the Windhoek Observer.
“The employee may also not have worked for the same employer for six months, which is a requirement.”
When asked if the commission is not concerned that some employers will receive funding under the relief measures but still move ahead to retrench employees amid growing fears, following Tuesday High Court ruling, Kauapirura said, “ we are still studying the ruling and how it will affect us.”
The N$700 million temporary wage subsidy is being provided in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance to employers in sectors hit hard by COVID-19. They are eligible to receive the funds provided they agree to retain workers for a period of three months.
Employers will receive a wage bill subsidy on condition they did not retrench during April, May and June, while employees will get a monthly payout equal to 50 percent of their salaries for a period of three months on condition they earn less than N$50,000 per annum.
Employees in sectors to be covered by the grant to be administered by the fund include construction, farming, transport, manufacturing, retail, domestic workers and entertainment among others.
At the launch the package, the SSC noted that it had been forced to dip into 10 percent of its total assets to mitigate the strain of the COVID-19 on the working public and is also investigating the possibility of providing financial relief to members in the informal sector.
