BASIC INCOME GRANT COULD PROMOTE DIGNITY, JUSTICE

In the first seven years of democratic rule, South Africa's statute books have been completely overhauled. We have weeded out the racially-biased legislation of the past. In its place, we have planted new laws. Laws which reflect the vision of a fair and open society embodied in our constitution. Laws which promise equal rights and equal opportunities to all South Africans.

Yet today, at least 22 million South Africans--over half the population--still live in poverty. Nearly all are black. Seventy per cent stay in rural areas. The odds are two to one that they will live in households headed by women. And, increasingly, they will live in families touched by HIV, with at least one household member either living with or lost to the virus.

Now the challenge is to give heart to our new legal corpus. To give meaningful content to the socio-economic rights promised in the constitution. To build a caring and humane society in which all South Africans not only have the right to be free, but also the means to be free. Free from hunger. Free from the hopelessness and despair of abject poverty. Free from the indignity of perpetual want.

The social security system we have inherited is simply not up to this challenge. It is a patchwork of assistance that leaves as many as 13,8 million people in the poorest 40 per cent of households completely without access to social security transfers. These are households in which no one qualifies for an old age pension, unemployment benefits, a disability or child maintenance grant. These are families that simply drop straight though our tattered social security safety net.

A basic income grant would be a crucial first step towards ensuring that all South Africans have the wherewithal to meet at least their most basic needs. One-fifth of our population spends, on average, less than R50 a month on food. So an extra R100 per month would significantly improve people's ability to survive with dignity. Since every individual would be eligible to receive the grant, larger households--which are more likely to be poor--would also reap the greatest benefits.

There are those who will warn that social assistance programmes can undermine people's dignity by discouraging individual initiative and fostering dependence on the state. But the Basic Income Grant avoids such pitfalls. Because it would not be means-tested, people would not be penalised for working or starting their own enterprises to improve their incomes.

The South African Council of Churches' support for the Basic Income Grant is not motivated solely by humanitarian concerns, however. It is also driven by a commitment to justice. By a conviction that lasting reconciliation and a shared future will elude our grasp unless we correct the enormous economic inequalities that have been among apartheid's most enduring legacies.

A universal Basic Income Grant financed in part by progressive recovery through the tax system, would be a significant mechanism for a gradual redistribution of wealth. It would also be consistent with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call for a broadly-based reparations programme capable of making a visible contribution to economic justice.

Poverty and inequality represent the most substantial threats to South Africa's peace and security. The challenge they pose requires a bold, visionary and sustained response. We believe that the Basic Income Grant can be an important part of the answer we seek. We urge the government to give careful consideration to this proposal and invite all South Africans to join the debate.