Workers hit by South Africa’s looting will be paid out by government – how to apply

EMPLOYMENT and Labour minister Thulas Nexsi has established a temporary relief scheme aimed at giving relief to vulnerable workers impacted by the recent looting and unrest.

In a government gazette published on Tuesday (10 August), Nxesi said that the relief will be given to those who are unable to work because of the closure of workplaces as a result of the unrest.

These workers will be paid on a scale as follows:

• Income replacement is calculated at the rate of a sliding scale (38%-60%) based on the employee’s remuneration;
• The remuneration to be taken into account in calculating the relief is capped at a maximum amount of R17,712 per month;
• If income replacement falls below R3,500, the worker must be paid a replacement income equal to that amount.

Despite the above calculation, the gazette states that the minister can, if financial considerations dictate, determine a flat rate for the financial