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291 documents from Institute for Economic Justice
The IEJ welcomes the historic G20 South Africa Summit: Leaders’ Declaration
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) issued a statement welcoming the G20 South Africa Summit: Leaders’ Declaration, while noting that the consensus-based nature of the outcome diluted transformative proposals and failed to deliver sufficient progress on climate and development challenges.
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Document type: Statement
Statement: MTBPS 2025 – Turning a Corner or Walking Towards a Dead End?
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) critiques the 2025 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), arguing that the National Treasury's focus on debt stabilisation and fiscal stability comes at the expense of economic growth, public services, and poverty reduction. The IEJ contends that the budget maintains an austerity agenda, reduces investment in critical infrastructure and social services, and implements a restrictive new inflation target that may hinder domestic demand and investment.
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Document type: Statement
G20 Statement: Africa Pays the Price for Global Inequality
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) issued a statement calling for the G20, hosted for the first time by South Africa, to implement people-centred reforms to the global economic architecture. The IEJ advocates for urgent action on debt justice, tax fairness, food security, the care economy, and climate finance to address systemic inequalities affecting Africa.
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Document type: Statement
UBIC Statement | Uncertainty over SRD Grant's Future as Clock Ticks for Beneficiaries | IEJ
The Unconditional Basic Income Coalition (UBIC) expresses concern over the lack of clarity regarding the future of South Africa's Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, which is set to expire in March 2026. UBIC opposes government proposals to link the grant to employment or offer lump-sum payments, arguing that unconditional cash transfers are the most effective way to address poverty and structural unemployment.
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Document type: Statement
Statement on Backtracking on Equality
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) reports that the G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group (EWWG) failed to reach a consensus on its final ministerial declaration during South Africa's presidency. Despite broad agreement among 18 member states, one country's sustained reservations regarding gender-based terminology and women's rights framings led to the issuance of a Chair's Statement instead of a joint declaration.
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Document type: Statement
Ukukhusela oGogo: Ukunqanda ulwaphulo mthetho ‘lobuqhetseba kwimali yendodla’ eMzantsi Afrika
This fact sheet by the Institute for Economic Justice examines fraud within South Africa's social grant system. It argues that while the government focuses on policing beneficiaries, the majority of high-value fraud is perpetrated by government officials and external predatory actors. The document critiques current anti-fraud measures—such as algorithms, bank account monitoring, and biometric verification—as ineffective tools that disproportionately exclude vulnerable, eligible recipients from receiving essential support.
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Document type: Fact sheet
FOOD SYSTEM AND CLIMATE ADAPTATION POLICY ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOP WORKSHOP REPORT
This report details a workshop held from 20 to 22 October 2025, organized by the Institute for Economic Justice to build capacity among diverse food system constituencies to engage with South Africa's Climate Change Act (CCA). The workshop focused on the intersection of climate change and food systems, the need for a just transition that prioritizes agroecology and land reform, and the specific policy entry points provided by the CCA's mandated National and Sector Adaptation Plans.
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Document type: Report
Why is National Treasury so scared to tax wealth in South Africa, the most unequal country in the world?
This concept note from the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) critiques the South African National Treasury's reliance on austerity and its resistance to implementing wealth taxes. The document argues that the government's claims regarding high statutory tax rates are misleading due to extensive tax breaks and corporate tax avoidance, and suggests that expanding the fiscal envelope through wealth taxation and the strategic use of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) is necessary to address extreme poverty and fund a green industrial transition.
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Document type: Briefing
A historic milestone for South Africa’s G20 Presidency: The ubuntu principles on food security, nutrition, and price volatility
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) issued a statement welcoming the conclusion of the G20 Task Force on Food Security under South Africa's Presidency. The IEJ, acting as a Resource Partner, advocated for structural reforms to address global hunger, food price volatility, and the financialisation of food systems, emphasizing the need for public food stock holdings and agroecological approaches to build climate resilience.
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Document type: Statement
Grants under attack in South Africa: How to save social protection
This concept note describes a discussion series episode titled "Grants under attack in South Africa: How to save social protection," which examines the National Treasury's instructions to the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to reduce the number of social grant recipients to protect the fiscus.
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Document type: Briefing
A Worker-Centred Framework for Financing the Just Transition
This fact sheet presents a worker-centred framework, co-produced with COSATU, to finance South Africa's just transition. It critiques the JET-IP's funding gap and private-sector reliance, proposing instead a shift toward eco-socialism through fiscal reforms (e.g., a Climate Response Fund), monetary policy shifts to support green industrialisation, and the reorientation of Development Finance Institutions.
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Document type: Fact sheet
A G20 Pathway Towards Oil and Gas Phase Out
A policy brief by the Institute for Economic Justice arguing that G20 nations, which produce 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions, must coordinate to phase out oil and gas. It highlights South Africa's 2025 G20 presidency as a critical opportunity to lead on subsidy reform and financing for the Global South ahead of COP30.
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Document type: Policy brief
A World Defined by Justice and Care: Universal Social Floors
This fact sheet by the Institute for Economic Justice advocates for the implementation of Universal Social Protection Floors to combat global poverty, hunger, and inequality. It details the role of the G20 in promoting these floors, specifically highlighting the contributions of previous presidencies and the strategic opportunity presented by South Africa's G20 presidency to integrate social protection with economic and industrial strategies.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Food on the Dinner Table or Corporate Profits
This fact sheet from the Institute for Economic Justice argues that the current global food crisis is driven by corporate greed and systemic flaws rather than food scarcity, highlighting the link between food systems and climate change.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Trump’s Tariff War: Charting Africa’s Strategic Response
A policy brief by Dr Basani Baloyi analyzing the impact of Donald Trump's second administration's tariff regime on Africa and proposing a strategic response focused on regional integration, industrialization, and collective bargaining.
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Document type: Policy brief
A Worker-Centred Framework for Financing the Just Transition
The report proposes a worker-centred alternative financing framework for South Africa's just transition to a low-carbon economy. It argues that the existing Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP) over-relies on private funding and profit-driven models, which may fail to deliver social justice or sufficient green industrialisation. The proposed framework integrates worker demands with promotional fiscal and monetary policies and the reform of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to ensure the transition is treated as a public good.
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Document type: Report
A Worker-Centred Framework for Financing the Just Transition
This report by the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) proposes a worker-centred alternative financing framework for South Africa's just transition to a low-carbon economy. It argues that existing mechanisms, such as the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP), rely too heavily on private sector funding and profit-driven models, which risk neglecting socioeconomic rights and worker protections. The IEJ advocates for a holistic macroeconomic shift involving promotional fiscal and monetary policies, the creation of a Climate Response Fund (CRF), and the realignment of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to prioritise public goods and job creation over profit.
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Document type: Report
G20 factsheet series
This factsheet by the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) provides an overview of the Group of 20 (G20), its governance, and the specific context of South Africa's 2025 presidency. It details the G20's composition, its operational tracks, the role of civil society engagement groups like the C20, and South Africa's priorities for its term.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Who profits from a weakened international taxation system: MNCs, the super-rich or states?
This fact sheet by the Institute for Economic Justice examines the systemic failures of the international taxation system, which allow multinational corporations (MNCs) and the super-rich to avoid taxes. It critiques the G20/OECD Two-Pillar Framework for favoring developed nations and discusses the push for a more democratic UN Tax Convention, while evaluating the role of South Africa's G20 presidency in advancing tax justice.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Why do Countries Pay Financial Institutions Instead of Building Schools and Hospitals?
This fact sheet from the Institute for Economic Justice examines the structural causes of the African debt crisis, the impact of high interest rates on public services, and the limitations of G20 initiatives. It argues that the crisis is rooted in a 'rigged global system' and calls for systemic reform and debt cancellation through movements like Jubilee 2025.
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Document type: Fact sheet