The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to urgently release and act on the forensic audit into the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the alleged attempts to get a 10% kickback from the R5 billion job project by some ANC bigwigs.

Thuja Capital CEO, Mthunzi Mdwaba, recently named Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana, the Department of Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande and ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula as those who tried to solicit a bribe of R500 million from him to help him get the tender. Mdwaba said he was about to close the R5 billion jobs project with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) when the ministers allegedly approached him attempting to get the slice of the cake. Mdwaba said the deal failed because he refused to agree to pay kickbacks. Mbalula has since opened a crimen injuria case against Mdwaba while Nxesi, Nzimande and Godongwana have written to Mdwaba demanding that he retracts his statements but he has since refused to do so. Cosatu said it was shocking that government ministers would want to siphon off millions from workers' hard-earned funds from the UIF to a seemingly get-rich scheme by Thuja Capital. 

Cosatu said it welcomed Nxesi's appointment of a forensic audit into this shameful failed deal. Spokesperson Matthew Parks said it is critical that the report is released to the public now and that its recommendations on action to be taken against persons found wanting inside and outside the state be affected. "It is not enough for alleged corrupt or illegal activities to be stopped. Those who are accused need to face the full legal consequences for their actions. We cannot expect to change an endemic culture of corruption and criminality if we are to continue to treat those found wanting with kid gloves," said Parks. Parks further said that Cosatu welcomed commitments by Nxesi to overhaul the UIF to ensure that workers can apply with ease and receive their monies timeously and that workers' and employers' contributions are safely invested and used to protect workers when they have lost their jobs or wages or when they are on maternity or parental or adoption leave. "We must make sure that these funds are invested in legitimate investments that create jobs and benefit workers and are not used to line the pockets of amoral individuals. This long overdue modernisation and cleansing of the UIF needs to begin as a matter of urgency," said Parks.