I hope someone can advise me . . . I was retrenched along with my 4 colleagues in July, received a little severance package.

Our U-19 forms had been filled out by the bookkeeper employed by the owner of the business. Only after submitting my form (in person, as the website locked my account for reasons unknown) did I realize that the section headed Hours of Work had not been completed. I checked with my ex- colleagues, who all said their forms had been correctly filled out - so that leaves only myself with this problem.

I contacted the bookkeeper, who was very short with me & said I should "just fill it in myself" & she "did not know my hours of work" (totally untrue, we had all worked the same number of shifts over the past 6 years in retail)

I am very worried about this, as UIF has the original U-19. So, if I fill in my hours myself, on the copy I kept of the form, would that be considered a "crime"?

Apart from that, when do I submit the new form U-19? At once? Wait for them to reject the first application & only then submit it? At the UIF office I was told they would sms me "in 8 weeks", which would mean the middle of November. So another 8 weeks after that brings us to January 2021. And as I have no other form of income I am sponging off my daughter. . . . . who is going to have to apply for Debt Review because of me.

Nobody answers the phone when I try to ring the UIF offices; I've spent about R750 on airtime, hanging on for hours & then being cut off.

I feel quite hopeless right now. I spoke to the owners of the now-closed business, but response was that he did not "want to get involved"

Any advice would be much appreciated!