UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME COALITION SCORECARD

The Universal Basic Income Coalition (UBIC) produced a scorecard evaluating South African political parties' policies on basic income grants (BIG) ahead of the 2024 election. The report assesses parties against evidence-based principles, including the expansion of the social protection floor, adequate grant values tied to poverty lines, and the removal of conditionalities.

• Action SA received a high score for committing to a universal, unconditional basic income grant that increases progressively over three years: R790 in the first year, R1101 in the second, and R1622 in the third.
• The African National Congress (ANC) committed to the progressive realisation of a basic income grant for the 18-59 age group, pledging to index the value to the minimum Food Poverty Line and move toward the Upper Bound Poverty Line.
• The GOOD party proposed a basic income grant starting at R999, with a plan to increase the value over time. It is the only party to provide a detailed funding proposal based on reallocating existing expenditure and reducing wasteful spending.
• The Democratic Alliance (DA) proposed replacing the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant with a job-seekers' grant conditional on demonstrating job-seeking activities, a move UBIC argues could exclude caregivers and undermine agency.
• The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) proposed doubling the value of all grants except the SRD grant and introducing a R5000 monthly grant for graduates, while retaining the SRD grant at its current value for those without qualifications.
• uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) pledged a basic income grant for those unable to work, set above the upper-bound poverty line (R1558), and proposed increasing the child support grant to the food poverty line (R760).
• The United Democratic Movement (UDM) committed to expanding the SRD grant into a UBI for those aged 18-59 with a proposed monthly value of R800, funded by reducing corruption and wasteful expenditure.
• Several parties, including the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), African Transformation Movement (ATM), Build One South Africa (BOSA), and Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), failed to meet the minimum threshold for expanding the social protection floor.
• Rise Mzansi proposed removing the SRD grant in favor of a conditional job-seekers' grant limited to three months and food vouchers, which UBIC describes as a net contraction of social protection.

APA

Howson, K., Chikte, A., Baduza, S., Pillay, P., & Coleman, N. (2024). UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME COALITION SCORECARD. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/UBIC-Scorecard-Report.pdf

Chicago

Howson, Kelle, Aliya Chikte, Siyanda Baduza, Pearl Pillay, and Neil Coleman. UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME COALITION SCORECARD. Institute for Economic Justice, 2024. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/UBIC-Scorecard-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Howson |first1=Kelle |last2=Chikte |first2=Aliya |last3=Baduza |first3=Siyanda |last4=Pillay |first4=Pearl |last5=Coleman |first5=Neil |title=UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME COALITION SCORECARD |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=15 May 2024 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/UBIC-Scorecard-Report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{howson2024universal, author = {Howson, Kelle and Chikte, Aliya and Baduza, Siyanda and Pillay, Pearl and Coleman, Neil}, title = {{UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME COALITION SCORECARD}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2024}, month = may, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/UBIC-Scorecard-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }