Current Project
Universal Basic Income & Covid-19
During the spread of Covid-19 , the South African Government launched several new social grants to help those affected by poverty and unemployment. Their flagship grant, the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant, targeted 19 to 59 year olds with little or no income, who had been excluded by previous social assistance programs. They also introduced a Caregivers Grant for adults caring for children under 18. Engenas Senona, Wanga Zembe and I interviewed members of the Black Sash around the country about their experience with these grants. We found that these grants were vitally necessary, but came with new challenges and exclusions because of the way the programs rolled out.
Based on this work, we successfully:
1. Advocated for the expansion of the Covid-19 grant to women and migrants who were initially excluded
2. Advocated for the extension of the Covid-19 grant for the past four years, such that it has now become politically impossible to repeal
3. We are now advocating for the Covid-19 grant to be converted into a permanent, universal basic income
Based on this work, we successfully:
1. Advocated for the expansion of the Covid-19 grant to women and migrants who were initially excluded
2. Advocated for the extension of the Covid-19 grant for the past four years, such that it has now become politically impossible to repeal
3. We are now advocating for the Covid-19 grant to be converted into a permanent, universal basic income
advocacy agenda
introduce universal basic inome
Read: Our report on social protection and Covid-19.
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Watch: Nelisiwe Xaba, Engenas Senona, Wanga Zembe-Mkabile and I launch our new report.
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Watch: My interview with Newzroom Afrika about how people experience the process of accessing social grants.
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