Introducing a Universal Basic Income Guarantee for South Africa

The Institute for Economic Justice proposes a Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG) for South African adults aged 18-59 to address widespread hunger and job losses. The brief argues that a universal, unconditional grant is superior to targeted measures due to administrative ease and broader reach. It suggests starting with a grant at the food poverty line (R585 per month), funded by R158 billion in progressive tax increases, including a Social Security Tax and the elimination of certain tax credits. In the medium term, the document recommends a wealth tax to increase the grant to lower-bound (R840) or upper-bound (R1,268) poverty lines. Immediate recommendations include extending and increasing the COVID-19 social relief grant and incorporating caregivers.

• The South African government has a constitutional and international legal obligation to provide social security, yet a significant gap exists for adults aged 18-59 who are currently excluded from the grant system.
• The COVID-19 social relief grant of R350 and the Caregiver's Allowance of R500 provided essential relief, but the COVID-19 grant faced administrative bottlenecks and under-coverage, with only 34-46% of eligible people receiving payment by August 2020.
• A universal grant is preferred over targeted or phased approaches because targeting creates allocative inefficiencies and administrative burdens that often exclude eligible people unjustly.
• The document identifies three primary poverty line benchmarks for the UBIG: the food poverty line (FPL) at R585, the lower-bound poverty line (LBPL) at R840, and the upper-bound poverty line (UBPL) at R1,268 per person per month.
• Implementing a UBIG for all adults (18-59) at the food poverty line (R585) would cost R239 billion per annum, while a version targeted only at those 'not formally employed' (NFE) at the same level would cost R157 billion per annum.
• The IEJ proposes a package of progressive tax measures totaling R158 billion to fund the initial UBIG, including a Social Security Tax (SST) of 1.5% to 3% on taxable personal income, which would generate R64.7 billion.
• A proposed wealth tax on the top 1% of earners at a 1% rate could raise R63 billion, while a 3% tax on the richest 0.1% could raise R103 billion.
• The document recommends an immediate extension of the COVID-19 grant until the end of the 2021/22 financial year, increasing its value to R585 per month and including caregivers.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2021). Introducing a Universal Basic Income Guarantee for South Africa. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-policy-brief-UBIG_2.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Introducing a Universal Basic Income Guarantee for South Africa. 2021. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-policy-brief-UBIG_2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Introducing a Universal Basic Income Guarantee for South Africa |date=March 2021 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-policy-brief-UBIG_2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjustice2021introducing, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Introducing a Universal Basic Income Guarantee for South Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-policy-brief-UBIG_2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }