The Covid-19 pandemic has led to more people living below the poverty line and being jobless. Basic Income Grant Experts have made a proposal to government, that will change many lives.
Basic Income Support (BIS) experts, including the Department of Social Development, propose that the government slowly introduce a Basic Income Grant for unemployed people.
This team wants to start the process by making the existing Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant institutionalised.
Van den Heever, who forms part of this network said:
We also found that structural changes in the levels of poverty and inequality require programmes implemented at scale. But given the prevailing fiscal and economic realities, we, therefore, propose that a phased approach to the implementation of BIS be considered, which recognises that the pace of moving to scale is contingent on being able to finance these expansions in a sustainable manner.
Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu pointed out that this is the best opportunity for the Expert Panel Report on Basic Income Support to demonstrate how legitimate BIS can be innovated to protect those who need it, namely those between the ages of 18 and 59.
The department says that their efforts should target improving the state of where people live.
Nomahlubi Mphemba, a recipient of the current Covid-19 SRD grant said, “It’s not that I am not grateful but I do the things I want with the R350. It helps me with a lot of things here at home.”
Mphemba’s relative also expressed how Mphemba was using the SRD grant selflessly, taking care of her and her father’s children and how it helps contribute to essentials such as food.
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