Some Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) service points will be open on Saturdays and from 07:30 to 16:00 on weekdays to render services to clients and employers during September to cater for an anticipated increase in demand for real-time services.

In August, the High Court in Pretoria issued an interim interdict preventing a service provider from implementing a new contract for support and maintenance services to the online uFiling platform.

This has resulted in uFiling services being suspended for the time being.

Since the suspension in uFiling services, the UIF has processed more than 181 000 claims at service points around the country.

"Through queue management, monitoring of operations and staff repurposing, the UIF has been able to adequately handle claim volumes around the country. The fund is confident that, by extending working hours, it will be able to maintain the status quo, while developing alternative online solutions for clients and employers," it said in a September 11 media statement.

The service points that will offer extended operating hours and that will be open on Saturdays are Gqeberha, East London and Qonce, in the Eastern Cape; Pietermaritzburg and Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal; Emalahleni, Secunda, Middleburg, Malelane and Mbombela, in Mpumalanga; Mahikeng, Potchefstroom, Lichtenburg, Klerksdorp, Vryburg, Christiana, Brits, Taung and Rustenburg, in North West; and Cape Town, Paarl, Mitchells Plain and Bellville, in the Western Cape.