The Ministry of Social Development is seeking to claw back some of the $9.7 million in wages subsidies paid to Super Rugby players through the Covid pandemic.
The government agency initially let the unions play on in accepting the original wage subsidy and its extensions, but after looking at new information from a different angle, it no longer considered the provincial unions should have got all of what they asked for.
“Since this money was granted, MSD [Ministry of Social Development] has assessed additional information and now does not consider the provincial unions were eligible for some of the wage subsidy payments they received,” general manager of client service support George Van Ooyen said in an emailed statement.
