Basic income support in South Africa: risks, rewards and what it will take

MICHAEL SACHS|

SOME form of basic income support is central to the South African government’s agenda.

The lockdown-induced shocks have added to the crisis of structural mass unemployment and of poverty. There also seems to be broad consensus that basic income support is an essential part of the country’s social compact.

But the fiscal risks it poses to a fragile economy have not diminished. And government faces some hard trade-offs to ensure these risks are minimised and that other social spending is not compromised.

A small cash grant to the poorest workers was introduced as an ad-hoc and temporary response to the collapse of employment induced by the COVID-19 lockdowns. The COVID social relief of distress grant operates in terms of national disaster regulations, and its financing depends on periodic extensions announced in the national budget.

But the success of the grant has underscored a broad consensus in favour of