Black Sash, a human rights organisation advocating for social justice in South Africa, handed over a petition on basic income support with more than 300 000 signatures to Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu after her budget vote speech at Parliament recently.
The petition, which was also supported by more than 90 other organisations, demanded that the government implement comprehensive social security by providing permanent social assistance for the unemployed from the age of 18 to 59.
Black Sash said the government should prioritise all people living in poverty by implementing a permanent basic income grant, with a social grant of R663, in alignment with the food poverty line, to be the first urgent step.
The petition called on the government to commit to a basic income support policy framework with time lines to address the crisis in the country “by investing in its people”, complemented with job creation to stimulate economic growth.
The petition was signed by about 330 000 people from across the country and was addressed to the National Treasury, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana, President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zulu.
“We were quite encouraged because part of her speech was prioritising working together with other mandated government departments to produce South Africa’s poverty alleviation strategy which would include a policy on basic income support for 18- to 59-year-olds.
“This is indeed a significant request … there is an important gap where the social assistance framework does not make provision for the unemployed to be eligible so we hope that the Social Relief of Distress Grant will be the catalyst to provide social assistance,” said Black Sash’s national advocacy manager, Hoodah Abrahams.
The current unemployment rate is 32.9 % and South Africans are still reeling from the aftermath of the pandemic.
Black Sash appealed to the government to take this memorandum seriously and for the petition signatories’ voices to be heard.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
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