According to the Employment and Labour Department, the majority of compensation funds claims received are from women. The department says women seem to be bearing the biggest brunt of the Coronavirus as more than 80% of cases received across all provinces involve women. The department’s spokesperson, Teboho Thejane, says as the country battles against the spread of the virus, the department now finds itself in a situation where they not only have to support workers through relief payments, but now have to deal with the escalating number of claims from people who fall sick at work. He confirms the Compensation Fund has to date received a total of 941 claims of people who fell sick at work with the highest number coming for the Western Cape, followed by the Eastern Cape.

Whilst there has not been much claims lodged from Central South Africa, he in a statement confirms there has been two cases in the North West.

Thejane says their figures indicates that most affected employees are nurses who are in the frontline of the pandemic.

He says the department is appealing to all employers across all the sectors to ensure that workers are adequately protected and provided with necessary protective gears.

He highlights that they issued thousands of contravention notices to both the public and private sector employers failing to comply with Covid-19 regulations.

“All employers have a duty of care for their employees and have a responsibility for their safety” he highlighted.

OFM News