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291 documents from Institute for Economic Justice
Secretly negotiated South African climate finance deal: a gift to private investors while choking local development
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) criticizes the $8.5-billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and its Investment Plan (JET-IP) as a market-centric deal that prioritizes private investor profits over South African local development. The IEJ argues that the deal's reliance on loans and private-sector 'de-risking' threatens to increase energy costs, maintain high state financial risk, and fail to provide adequate social security or local manufacturing support for workers in the coal belt.
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Document type: Statement
Huge gap between Treasury’s priorities and needs of South Africans must be closed
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) criticizes the South African National Treasury's Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) 2022, arguing that it prioritizes debt stabilization and fiscal consolidation over the needs of poor households and public services.
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Document type: Statement
TOWARDS A JUST ENERGY TRANSITION
This policy brief by the Institute for Economic Justice analyzes the USD 8.5 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) in South Africa. It argues that the deal's reliance on blended finance and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) shifts commercial risks to the state and consumers while privatizing gains. The document warns that this 'de-risking' approach may worsen South Africa's fiscal position, increase energy poverty through higher tariffs, and undermine local renewable energy manufacturing. It proposes alternative pathways, including the regulation of private finance, debt cancellation for 'odious debt', climate reparations, and the implementation of allocative green credit policies.
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Document type: Policy brief
A Framework for Understanding the Just Energy Transition Partnership on South Africa’s Just Transition
This policy brief by the Institute for Economic Justice critiques the USD 8.5 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) for South Africa, arguing that its reliance on 'de-risking' private finance through Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and blended finance shifts commercial risks to the state while privatising gains. The authors contend that this model threatens to increase energy poverty, worsen the national debt profile, and undermine the localisation of renewable energy manufacturing. The document proposes alternative financing pathways, including the regulation of PPPs, debt cancellation for 'odious debt', climate reparations, and the implementation of allocative green credit policies.
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Document type: Policy brief
How a UBIG can advance gender justice and social cohesion
This fact sheet from the Institute for Economic Justice argues that a Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG)—defined as a regular government cash transfer provided as a right to all adult citizens or residents—can advance gender justice and social cohesion by decoupling income from waged labour and reducing poverty-driven instability.
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Document type: Fact sheet
MTBPS needs to break with our recent and current failed national fiscal strategy
The Institute for Economic Justice argues that the 2022 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) must abandon current fiscal strategies in favor of aggressive investment in social security, public services, and economic infrastructure to address structural unemployment and poverty in South Africa.
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Document type: Statement
Ten Priorities for the 2022 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement
A policy statement from the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) outlining ten priorities for Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's 2022 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS).
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Document type: Statement
Civil Society Briefing on SRD Grant and Prospects for a UBIG
This briefing by the Institute for Economic Justice evaluates the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant in South Africa and advocates for the transition to a Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG) funded through progressive revenue measures.
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Document type: Briefing
FACT SHEET: NEGOTIATING A SOUTH AFRICAN RENEWABLE ENERGY MASTERPLAN (SAREM)
This fact sheet by the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) audits the August 2022 draft of the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM). It evaluates the draft against labour recommendations, arguing that the current plan lacks sufficient detail on decent work, public ownership, and aggressive localisation. The IEJ proposes a series of demands for final negotiations to ensure the energy transition supports employment creation, local manufacturing, and a proactive recycling industry.
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Document type: Fact sheet
TEN PRIORITIES FOR THE 2022 MEDIUM TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT
This policy brief by the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) outlines ten priorities for the 2022 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), advocating for a shift away from fiscal consolidation toward a framework that prioritizes unemployment, poverty, and inequality reduction through increased public investment and progressive taxation.
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Document type: Policy brief
Statement on Treasury and Presidency Proposed SRD Grant Replacements
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) criticizes proposed replacements for the R350 Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant by the South African National Treasury and the Presidency. The IEJ argues that Treasury's proposals are regressive and exclusionary, potentially reducing the number of beneficiaries by half through the introduction of complex categories and job-seeking conditionalities.
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Document type: Statement
MEMO ON TREASURY AND PRESIDENCY PROPOSALS TO REPLACE THE SRD GRANT
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) critiques proposals from the South African National Treasury (NT) and the Presidency to replace the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, which expires in March 2023. The IEJ argues that NT's plans to introduce targeted jobseekers, household, and caregivers grants are regressive, unconstitutional, and administratively unworkable, as they would exclude millions of poor people. The memo further challenges NT's claims of unaffordability, suggesting that the government has ignored progressive tax options and the net cost benefits of grants.
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Document type: Briefing
IEJ submission on the 2023 MTEF
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) submitted proposals to the National Treasury on 19 August 2022 regarding the 2023 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), advocating for a shift from debt stabilisation toward a human-rights based and feminist approach to budgeting.
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Document type: Report
A pro-employment macroeconomic policy framework for Africa
This executive summary of Chapter 4 of the Global Employment Policy Review (Second edition) argues that traditional market-centric macroeconomic policies focused on stabilisation have failed to generate employment in Africa. It proposes a transformative macroeconomic policy framework that integrates macroeconomic, sectoral, and labour market policies to drive structural transformation and decent employment.
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Document type: Executive summary
FAILURE TO PAY SOCIAL RELIEF OF DISTRESS GRANTS
A letter of demand from the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) to the South African government and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) regarding the failure to pay Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants for April, May, and June 2022.
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Document type: Statement
Letter to the President proposing a solution to the current SRD Grants crisis
A letter from the Institute for Economic Justice to President Ramaphosa requesting urgent intervention to resolve non-payments of Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants for April and May 2022.
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Document type: Statement
Poverty is unaffordable – there’s a big way out
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) issued a statement challenging the Centre for Development and Enterprise's (CDE) opposition to a basic income grant (BIG) in South Africa. The IEJ argues that poverty and economic exclusion are the primary barriers to growth, asserting that social protection and progressive taxation can stimulate the economy and create jobs, contrary to the CDE's claims that such measures are unaffordable or would hinder growth.
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Document type: Statement
National scandal unfolds as it is revealed that government has failed to pay a single SRD grant in April and May 2022
A press statement by the Institute for Economic Justice and other civil society organizations denouncing the South African government's failure to pay Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants in April and May 2022, citing administrative chaos and restrictive new eligibility criteria.
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Document type: Statement
Is the South African Climate Change Bill responsive to adaptation needs?
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Document type: Fact sheet
COMMENTS ON AMENDMENTS TO THE REGULATIONS TO THE SOCIAL ASSISTANCE ACT, 2004
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) provides comments on the draft amendments to the Regulations to the Social Assistance Act, 2004, specifically regarding the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. The IEJ argues that the current draft fails to address administrative barriers and fairness, warning that certain provisions could be vulnerable to legal challenge.
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Document type: Statement