Rights vs Austerity: The Battle for Decent Universal Basic Income in South Africa

A report by the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) and the Social Policy Initiative (SPI) analyzing the debate over social assistance for working-age adults in South Africa, specifically the transition of the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant into a permanent, universal basic income system.

• There is a conflict in South Africa regarding social assistance for the working-age population: the National Treasury and international financial institutions favor fiscal consolidation through strict targeting and automation, while civil society, labor organizations, and the Department of Social Development advocate for a rights-based universal income-support system.
• The Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant is considered inadequate because it is valued at only 46% of the food poverty line (FPL) and suffers from high exclusion errors due to restrictive means tests and ineffective digital systems, occurring against a backdrop of a 42.6% unemployment rate.
• The report recommends transitioning the SRD grant into a permanent basic income grant pegged to national poverty lines and funding this expansion through non-regressive measures like wealth taxes rather than VAT increases.

APA

iej_admin (2024). Rights vs Austerity: The Battle for Decent Universal Basic Income in South Africa. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/resource/contribution/rights-vs-austerity-the-battle-for-decent-universal-basic-income-in-south-africa-2/

Chicago

iej_admin. Rights vs Austerity: The Battle for Decent Universal Basic Income in South Africa. Institute for Economic Justice, 2024. https://iej.org.za/resource/contribution/rights-vs-austerity-the-battle-for-decent-universal-basic-income-in-south-africa-2/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=iej_admin |title=Rights vs Austerity: The Battle for Decent Universal Basic Income in South Africa |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=12 November 2024 |url=https://iej.org.za/resource/contribution/rights-vs-austerity-the-battle-for-decent-universal-basic-income-in-south-africa-2/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{iejadmin2024rights, author = {iej\_admin}, title = {{Rights vs Austerity: The Battle for Decent Universal Basic Income in South Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://iej.org.za/resource/contribution/rights-vs-austerity-the-battle-for-decent-universal-basic-income-in-south-africa-2/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }