Niemand Bly Agter Nie: Waarom Universele Basiese Inkomste Meer Sin Maak As Geteikende Toelaes

The fact sheet advocates for a guaranteed universal basic income (UBIG) over targeted social grants in South Africa, arguing that targeting mechanisms are administratively complex, costly, and frequently exclude the most vulnerable populations. It highlights that universal systems reduce administrative burdens, avoid social stigma, and are more effective at reducing poverty because they allow households to pool resources. The document suggests a phased implementation starting with the most vulnerable and expanding to all working-age adults, funded through progressive taxation to ensure the wealthy contribute while the poor benefit.

• Targeted income support systems often fail to reach the intended beneficiaries due to poor data, inaccessible application processes (such as online forms), and bureaucratic means-tests. A study of 25 targeted initiatives found that 12 had exclusion errors exceeding 70%, 5 exceeded 90%, and none had exclusion errors below 40%, with Brazil's Bolsa Familia being the best performer at 44%.
• In South Africa, the implementation of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant demonstrated that low means-test thresholds led to a drastic drop in approvals and applications, increasing state costs for bank income queries and causing payment delays and loss of trust.
• A UBIG is more effective at reducing poverty than a higher-value targeted grant because it allows multiple adults in low-income households to pool their resources. In the case of the SRD grant, 88% of recipients reported pooling their funds.
• Universal basic income systems reduce the administrative burden on the state by eliminating the need for costly and time-consuming eligibility evaluations and policing of ineligible recipients. To ensure fiscal sustainability, the document proposes using appropriate tax measures and recoveries from high-income earners.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2023). Niemand Bly Agter Nie: Waarom Universele Basiese Inkomste Meer Sin Maak As Geteikende Toelaes. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IEJ-UBIG-2-factsheet-Afrikaans.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Niemand Bly Agter Nie: Waarom Universele Basiese Inkomste Meer Sin Maak As Geteikende Toelaes. 2023. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IEJ-UBIG-2-factsheet-Afrikaans.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Niemand Bly Agter Nie: Waarom Universele Basiese Inkomste Meer Sin Maak As Geteikende Toelaes |date=November 2023 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IEJ-UBIG-2-factsheet-Afrikaans.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjustice2023niemand, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Niemand Bly Agter Nie: Waarom Universele Basiese Inkomste Meer Sin Maak As Geteikende Toelaes}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IEJ-UBIG-2-factsheet-Afrikaans.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }