Werksoekvoorwaardelikheid is net slegte beleid

The Institute for Economic Justice argues that requiring social grant recipients in South Africa to prove active job-seeking is a flawed policy. It contends that unemployment is structural rather than a result of individual effort, and that conditionality would exclude millions of needy people, increase administrative costs, and potentially lead to labor exploitation and lower wages. The document advocates for an unconditional Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG) as a more effective and just alternative.

• South Africa's unemployment is structural, meaning the economy does not create enough jobs to match the labor supply, even for qualified workers. The 'expanded definition' unemployment rate was 42.6% in Q2 2024, with 76.2% of active job seekers classified as 'long-term unemployed' (unemployed for over a year).
• Job-search conditionality is viewed as counterproductive because it ignores the high cost of seeking employment. For young people, the monthly cost of searching for work is approximately R1,469, which far exceeds the value of the R370 COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant.
• Implementing conditionality may lead to labor exploitation and a 'race to the bottom' in the labor market. Forcing recipients to accept any offered work to keep their grants can undermine bargaining power and lead to lower wages and poorer working conditions across the economy.
• Conditionality is argued to be a violation of constitutional rights and a source of social stigma. In South Africa, social assistance is a right guaranteed by Section 27(1) of the Constitution; making it conditional treats it as a privilege and reinforces harmful stereotypes that the poor are 'lazy' or 'dependent'.
• The document critiques specific proposals from the World Bank, National Treasury, and political parties (DA and Rise Mzansi) to replace the SRD grant with a job-seeker's grant. It argues these proposals lack clarity on verification methods and fail to account for the fact that many recipients are already active job seekers who cannot find work due to lack of opportunities.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2024). Werksoekvoorwaardelikheid is net slegte beleid. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/IEJ-UBIG-Factsheet-9-Afrikaans.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Werksoekvoorwaardelikheid is net slegte beleid. 2024. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/IEJ-UBIG-Factsheet-9-Afrikaans.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Werksoekvoorwaardelikheid is net slegte beleid |date=October 2024 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/IEJ-UBIG-Factsheet-9-Afrikaans.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjustice2024werksoekvoorwaardelikheid, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Werksoekvoorwaardelikheid is net slegte beleid}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/IEJ-UBIG-Factsheet-9-Afrikaans.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }