Merle Payne
Hi,
I am answering the questionnaire about my Covid-19 experience. I live on my brother’s farm in Limpopo. I run a small embroidery workshop from the farm in my house.
When the first lockdown was implemented, I told two of the three ladies at the workshop to go home to organise their lives and for their children (both are single mothers).
I managed to pay wages for the first five weeks, and claimed from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), which is paid monthly from my brother’s account. To date, we have received nothing.
I had to borrow money to pay their full salaries. Surely if one pays UIF, in a situation like Covid-19, one should be covered? I am heartbroken, as I live on a government pension, and my situation has been exacerbated by very few sales.
Yours faithfully,
Merle Payne, in Limpopo
