Saving Rands, Costing Lives: It’s Time for Universal Basic Income

A statement by the Institute for Economic Justice criticizing the South African government's approach to social spending and calling for the urgent implementation of a comprehensive universal basic income to combat hunger and a cost-of-living crisis.

• The cost of providing a basic, nutritious diet for a child increased by more than R30 in April alone, while the annual increase for the Child Support Grant was only R20.
• National Treasury has removed 35,000 people from social grants to achieve savings, often due to barriers in proving eligibility—such as transport costs and long queues at SASSA offices—rather than confirmed ineligibility.
• The author argues that fraud policing for social grants disproportionately targets vulnerable groups, including mothers, grandmothers, and persons with disabilities, while failing to address systemic state corruption.
• The proposed basic income policy should transition the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant into a permanent provision for working-age adults, increase the amount to at least the food poverty line, and eliminate automated verification and means-testing.
• The document advocates for a shift in economic strategy from fiscal restraint to taxing wealth and redistributing resources to finance social protection and basic services.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2026). Saving Rands, Costing Lives: It’s Time for Universal Basic Income. https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/saving-rands-costing-lives-its-time-for-universal-basic-income/

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Saving Rands, Costing Lives: It’s Time for Universal Basic Income. 2026. https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/saving-rands-costing-lives-its-time-for-universal-basic-income/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Saving Rands, Costing Lives: It’s Time for Universal Basic Income |date=26 May 2026 |url=https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/saving-rands-costing-lives-its-time-for-universal-basic-income/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2026saving, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Saving Rands, Costing Lives: It’s Time for Universal Basic Income}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/saving-rands-costing-lives-its-time-for-universal-basic-income/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }