DURBAN – Experts are calling on the government to provide a basic income support (BIS) for unemployed citizens. They have recommended that the government builds on the existing Covid-19 social relief of distress grant and gradually implements a basic income grant.
A recent report by Statistics SA revealed that over 34% of South Africans were without jobs. Stats SA said the second quarter saw an increase of 1.8% in jobless people, compared with the first quarter.
According to panel chair, Professor Alex van den Heever, if implemented carefully and incrementally, the basic income Grant will not incur severe trade-offs in relation to competing social programmes, economic sustainability and the fiscal position of government.
Income support in the form of a BIS framework for adults is necessary and no alternative measures could reasonably address the widespread and urgent income support needs of the relevant adults.
“We also found that structural changes in the levels of poverty and inequality require programmes implemented at scale. But given the prevailing fiscal and economic realities, we therefore propose that a phased approach to the implementation of BIS be considered, which recognises that the pace of moving to scale is contingent on being able to finance these expansions in a sustainable manner,” he said.
The panel did, however, find that the social relief of distress grant (SRD grant) introduced, as part of the Covid-19 package, involves manageable trade-offs in relation to the important advantages offered.
“We therefore recommend that the existing Covid-SRD be institutionalised and form the platform for an expanded system of basic income support, which can then be improved incrementally over time,” he said.
Van den Heever said the panel views money incomes as a key to thriving societies.
He said without access to money incomes, the resulting social exclusion is severe, disabling and harmful to agency.
This harm, he said, extends to dependants who are not expected to form part of labour market.
"Through our work, we confirm that income poverty in South Africa is so pervasive that more than half households live in poverty. All households in the lowest deciles fall below the food poverty line equivalent to a monthly value of R595 in 2021. Over 90% of houses living in decile three are below the poverty line, equivalent to a monthly value of R860," he said.
Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, said that the expert panel report on BIS forms an important element of the department’s ongoing efforts to institutionalise basic income support.
She said the panel’s report reinforces the need to invoke both courage and science to sustain an intelligent dialogue on basic income support.
"When delivering this year’s Nelson Mandela Memorial Lecture, President Cyril Ramaphosa challenged us to be brave when speaking about these matters. Sooner rather than later, dialogues must come to an end and piloting and implementation must start to define the reason we started this conversation just over 20 years ago," she said.
In light of the fiscal constraints, the minister said this is the best opportunity for the report to demonstrate how legitimate BIS can be innovated to protect those who need it, namely those between the ages of 18 and 59.
Zulu said it is in this context that efforts must be targeted at improving the state of the people where they live.
“I am pleased to receive the expert panel report on basic income support. This report is now an integral part of our policy engagement arsenal,” she said.
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