President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to make a decision on a new basic income grant in his February 2022 state of the nation address, however, his economic advisors are split over its feasibility.<\/p>\n
The Sunday Times<\/a> <\/strong>reports that a division in the Presidential Economic Advisory Council has formed, with some warning that it is unaffordable. The council includes leading local and international economists, academics and experts on economic policy.<\/p>\n The first group says South Africa does not have fiscal space to incur additional annual spending on a new social grant.<\/p>\n “Our vision must be to promote employment rather than ever-increasing state-funded income support,\u201d the council said in its first briefing note. “We face a real danger of policy error at a macroeconomic level where we will limit our economy\u2019s growth and job-creation potential by increasing the system of social grants payments in an unsustainable manner.\u201d<\/p>\n A dissenting note supports permanent grants for those living in abject poverty, arguing that even when the economy grows, South Africa still has a number of people who will require income support.<\/p>\n “The depth of poverty in South Africa is such that we cannot feasibly grow our way out of poverty in any reasonable timeline, with the current patterns of income distribution,” it reads.<\/p>\n Apart from monthly cash grants, the dissenting group proposes providing bus and minibus transport vouchers for job seekers; free printing at post offices, as well as clothing and connectivity costs to be covered by the state.<\/p>\n