Compensation Fund receives over 7 000 COVID-19 claims

A total of 7 199 claims have been lodged with the Compensation Fund for COVID-19 sickness contracted while at work.

Of the total claims, 4 595 have been submitted directly to the Compensation Fund (CF) and a further 2 385 to Rand Mutual, while Federated Employees has received 219 claims.

“Rand Mutual, which operates under licence as granted by the Minister of Employment and Labour, covers mostly workers in the mining and iron and steel industries. It has seen a sharp rise in claims.

“This is due to a number of claims that were originally repudiated due to incomplete information, but the outstanding information has been furnished. The cases have since been enrolled and are awaiting adjudication,” CF Commissioner Vuyo Mafata said.

The Compensation Fund has paid R462 612 in medical aid claims, and Federated Employees has paid out R11 356.56.

Over R500 000 paid for Temporary Total Disablement

A combined R514 963.22 has been paid by for Temporary Total Disablement, while R3.25 million in dependent benefits has been paid out.

A total of R51 477.53 has been paid out as permanent disablement lump sum, while Rand Mutual has disbursed R18 251 for a burial costs.

Of the 4 595 claims received by the CF, 2 358 come from the Western Cape, followed by Eastern Cape with 1 107, KwaZulu-Natal 491, Gauteng 481, Mpumalanga 91, Northern Cape 35, North West 29 and Limpopo three.

The CF has also accepted liability for 3 109 claims, which represents 67.7% of the claims received. It repudiated 544 claims (which is 11.8% of claims), while 942 await adjudication, which represents 20.5% of the claims received directly.

“Of the 2 385 claims received by Rand Mutual, Gauteng has received 1 870 claims, Eastern Cape 160, KwaZulu-Natal 91, Western Cape 72, Free State 58, North West 38, Limpopo 20, while 64 are unknown.

“Of the 2 385 claims received so far, 2 156 (90.4%) are pending adjudication,” Mafata said.

Federated Employers, which represents workers mostly in the construction sector, has received a total of 219 claims, mostly from Gauteng (120), Western Cape (32), KZN (19), Northern Cape (11), North West (9), Free State (5) and (3) in Mpumalanga.

Mafata said in cases where claims have been repudiated, with better information, the claim “could still be approved and the Fund will accept liability”.