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We have received two important updates from Kruger National Park as follows:
SANPARKS SUPPORTS EMPLOYEES DURING THE LOCKDOWN PERIOD
From the early announcements in March about COVID-19 (coronavirus) until today, South African National Parks (SANParks) like any other organisations has had to reconfigure some of its practices in response to the challenges brought about by the pandemic.
This according to SANParks Chief Executive Officer, Fundisile Mketeni who said this included arrangement of temporary accommodation for staff living within the living quarters in various national parks. “The reality is that all sectors of society have a contribution to make in curbing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic – and this includes implementing extraordinary measures.”
Mketeni stated, to this end, with the introduction of a lockdown, SANParks as with many other employers encouraged most employees to work from home and only a limited number remained in various parks as part of essential services these include rangers, anti-poaching officials, and infrastructure maintenance personnel. To reduce cross contamination risks amongst staff residing in the parks, some staff members have been temporarily accommodated in a portion of tourism facilities in a number of national parks.” This situation has provided an opportunity to carry out much needed maintenance and improvements to staff accommodation he added.
SATSA was informed that all overnight facilities will be sanitised and returned to normal working condition in time for opening of leisure accommodation planned for 14 Aug in most parks.
RENEWAL OF THE OSV PERMIT TO OPERATE OPEN SAFARI VEHICLE IN THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK
South African National Parks (SANParks) welcomes the announcement made by Minister of Tourism, Honourable Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane to open the leisure tourism industry under strict Alert Level 3 Lockdown.
Tour operators will be allowed to conduct guided tours in open safari vehicles subject to directions and regulations still to be issued.
Permits are required for OSV operators to operate within the Kruger National Park and due to the lockdown arising from the National Disaster Management Act no permits have been renewed or issued since expiry of the previously issued permits being 31 March 2020.
SANParks intends to introduce a two phase approach to re-permitting:
SANParks will allow OSV operators an annual permit payment grace period for three months and will consult with the industry on the revised annual permitting system prior to its implementation. A new annual permit fee will come into effect on 1 November 2020 and will be annually reviewed together with all SANParks tariffs.
In the intervening period, SANParks will issue temporary permits to all OSV operators provided the said operator is in possession of the required licenses and accreditations. The OSV operator must agree to arrange all the necessary insurance required for their operations, including amongst others, comprehensive vehicle insurance and public liability insurance.
OSVs will be required to carry the temporary permit on board of every vehicle at all times. All OSV operators intend to visit the KNP will have to pre-book day visits and will be subjected to daily gate quotas. All COVID-19 Regulations apply.
In order to apply for a temporary permit to operate an open safari vehicle in the Kruger National Park, please send an email to KNP.OSV@sanparks.org with subject line: OSV TEMPORARY PERMIT APPLICATION. SANParks will be processing and issuing OSV operator temporary permits from 5 August 2020.
Any queries should be directed to email KNP.OSV@sanparks.org or (013) 735 4104/5 during office hours (Mondays to Fridays).
The Department of Employment and Labour and Nedlac social partners agreed to extend the 14 day window period for April/May Covid/TERS claims.
Notwithstanding previous media statements, the Unemployment Insurance Fund is to continue processing new claims for April and May until a cut-off date is announced. This is in line with the agreement reached by Nedlac social partners that new applications made for the April/May period should still be processed and that there will be a 14 day notice window period, still to be announced, given to employers and employees before applications will close to submit these applications.
The Fund is working tirelessly to ensure that all valid Covid-19 TERS Benefits claims for April, May and June are settled and sorted out as it gears up to open the system for the new extended period of six weeks ending on August 15, 2020.
There are numerous challenges to handling applications; however, detailed FAQ guiding employers to handle any error codes will be issued to enable processing for payment.
To reduce the number of outstanding claims the Fund is re-running updates on declarations on the system twice a week. Added to that, UIF makes payments every day, except on Sundays, in order to fast-track outstanding claims.
“The Fund is also working on a number of front-end adjustments to the system to enable applicants to fix some of the errors on their own which will greatly ease the load on our side and improve the flow,” said UIF Commissioner, Teboho Maruping.
The UIF appreciates the collaboration and support received from employers, Bargaining Councils and other organisations across the board to resolve outstanding claims. The incidents of fraud have prompted the Fund to introduce the verification of banking details before payment is released into the applicant’s bank account.
“The UIF is reliant on the banks to ensure bank details verification. In instances where claims have failed bank verification, we appeal to employers to update the banking details on the system. The process to be followed will be outlined in the FAQs that will soon be made available on the Department’s website and the TERS online system.
The Fund has made this activity to be the responsibility of the client because of its sensitive nature, but most importantly it removes the potential of our officials meddling with client’s private information,” said Maruping.
As the Fund prepares to open the system for Covid-19 TERS Benefit claims for July and August, it has so far paid out R37 billion for 693,561 applications benefitting 8.3 million (8,298,307) workers.
“With the testimonies that we are receiving, it is quite clear to us that these disbursements have made a real difference to millions of people dependent on the workers who received these cash injections. As the Fund, it is an honour of us to have played this part and will do so until August 15, armed with learnings from the past three months,” said Maruping.
The Fund will leverage its resources to ensure that it continues to process those claims that are in the system and honour those that are valid in line with commitment it has made to various parliamentary committees and the workers in this country,” concluded Maruping.
For more information contact:
Teboho Thejane
Departmental Spokesperson
082 697 0694
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