LELOKELELO LA LETLAKALA LA TSHEDIMOŠO YA UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE (TOKELO YA LETSENO LA MOTHEO LA BATHO BOHLE) GA GO YO A TLOGETŠWEGO MORAGO

This fact sheet from the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) argues for the implementation of a Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG) in South Africa. It compares universal systems against targeted social grants, asserting that universal systems are more effective at reaching the poor, reducing administrative costs, and promoting social cohesion, whereas targeted systems often exclude a significant portion of the intended beneficiaries due to bureaucratic hurdles and inaccurate data.

• A Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG) is defined as a mechanism where the government ensures all eligible people receive a specific income to meet their basic needs through regular cash transfers or grants.
• Targeted social grants often fail to reach the most needy due to incorrect government data, difficult application processes (such as online forms), burdensome bureaucracy (like monthly bank statements), and the high prevalence of informal employment in South Africa.
• Research on 25 targeted income support attempts showed that 12 to 25 of them had exclusion errors exceeding 70%, and 5 had exclusion errors over 90%. No targeted attempt had an exclusion error below 40%, with Brazil's Bolsa Familia being the most effective at 44%.
• In South Africa, the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant experienced a sharp drop in approvals and applications when eligibility criteria were tightened, illustrating the risks of targeted systems.
• UBIG has a greater impact on poverty than high-level targeted grants because it reaches adults across various employment levels living in low-income households who pool their resources. In the case of the SRD grant, 88% of recipients reported pooling their funds.
• Targeted support can create new social divisions, increase reluctance to apply for benefits, and lead to the stigmatization of recipients, whereas universal support recognizes individual dignity and social contribution.
• The IEJ suggests that South Africa could transition to a UBIG by starting with a targeted BIG for those most at risk and gradually expanding it to include all working-age adults.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2023). LELOKELELO LA LETLAKALA LA TSHEDIMOŠO YA UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE (TOKELO YA LETSENO LA MOTHEO LA BATHO BOHLE) GA GO YO A TLOGETŠWEGO MORAGO. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IEJ-UBIG-2-factsheet-Sepedi.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. LELOKELELO LA LETLAKALA LA TSHEDIMOŠO YA UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE (TOKELO YA LETSENO LA MOTHEO LA BATHO BOHLE) GA GO YO A TLOGETŠWEGO MORAGO. 2023. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IEJ-UBIG-2-factsheet-Sepedi.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=LELOKELELO LA LETLAKALA LA TSHEDIMOŠO YA UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE (TOKELO YA LETSENO LA MOTHEO LA BATHO BOHLE) GA GO YO A TLOGETŠWEGO MORAGO |date=November 2023 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IEJ-UBIG-2-factsheet-Sepedi.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjustice2023lelokelelo, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{LELOKELELO LA LETLAKALA LA TSHEDIMOŠO YA UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE (TOKELO YA LETSENO LA MOTHEO LA BATHO BOHLE) GA GO YO A TLOGETŠWEGO MORAGO}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IEJ-UBIG-2-factsheet-Sepedi.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }