UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME COALITION SCORECARD

The Universal Basic Income Coalition (UBIC) produced a scorecard to assess political parties' positions on basic income grants (BIG) in South Africa. The analysis focuses on whether parties commit to expanding the social protection floor, providing adequate grant values, ensuring universal eligibility for adults aged 18-59, and removing conditionalities. The report highlights a wide disparity in party commitments, with Action SA, the ANC, and GOOD scoring highly for their progressive proposals, while many other parties either lack a clear policy or propose conditional grants that UBIC argues could increase exclusion and dependency.

• Action SA proposes a universal, unconditional basic income grant linked to national poverty lines, starting at R790 in the first year, increasing to R1101 in the second, and R1622 in the third.
• The African National Congress (ANC) committed to a basic income grant for the 18-59 age group without exclusionary means testing or work-seeking conditions, with a goal to finalize the policy within two years of the election.
• The GOOD party proposes a basic income grant starting at R999, funded through the reallocation of existing expenditure and the reduction of wasteful or irregular spending.
• The Democratic Alliance (DA) proposes 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 increase dependency.
• The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) plan to double the value of all grants except the SRD grant and introduce a R5000 monthly grant for graduates, while maintaining the SRD grant for those without qualifications.
• uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) proposes a basic income grant for those unable to work above the upper-bound poverty line (R1558) and a jobs guarantee for those able to work at a wage above the National Minimum Wage.
• The United Democratic Movement (UDM) commits to a universal basic income for those aged 18-59 set at R800 per month, funded by reducing corruption and wasteful expenditure.
• Rise Mzansi proposes removing the SRD grant in favor of a conditional job-seekers' grant limited to three months and the use of food vouchers, which UBIC identifies as a net contraction of social protection.
• Several parties, including the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), African Transformation Movement (ATM), and Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), failed to meet the minimum threshold for expanding the social protection floor.

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} }