The social development department is working on a basic income support policy, but the National Treasury wants to be informed of its envisaged cost before endorsing it.
Parliament’s social development committee was informed on Wednesday by the department’s acting deputy director-general for corporate support services and social security, Maureen Mogotsi, that the costing work had been commissioned and was expected to be completed later this month. But the department is only targeting March 2027 for the submission of a revised policy to the cabinet for consideration.
From the time that Lindiwe Zulu was minister of social development — she left in June 2024 — the department has persisted with the development of a policy for a basic income grant even though the National Treasury has insisted the estimated cost of hundreds of billions of rand is beyond the means of the fiscus.
The need for a basic income grant arises from the fact that the unemployed between the ages of 18 and 59 who are not covered by other social grants such as the child support or old age grants do not receive any state financial support. They are currently catered for by the temporary social relief of distress grant (SRD) which has been repeatedly extended and was estimated to cost the state R35bn in the 2025/2026 year.
The SRD grant — now R370, which is paid to about eight-million beneficiaries — has been extended to March 2027 “while proposals are finalised to link the working-age population to skills development and employment programmes”, the Treasury said in the medium-term budget policy statement.
The Treasury has countered demands for a basic income grant, particularly by NGOs, by saying it is working on reviewing and rationalising labour market activation programmes, of which there are more than 100 in government.
Mogotsi provided MPs with a history of the development of the basic income support policy. A draft policy was tabled to the cabinet in November 2024, and the cabinet directed further consultation, particularly on economic inclusion measures for SRD beneficiaries, with other departments.
The cabinet said consultations were needed with the Treasury on the sustainability of the proposed basic income support. After these consultations a revised policy paper was shared with the Treasury and the presidency.
In October, a policy colloquium was held attended by various government departments, including the Presidency and the Treasury, as well as local and international experts on social protection, labour activation and economic inclusion.
After this, an updated basic income support policy was presented to the Presidency and the Treasury, which requested updated costing of the policy and the envisaged roles of the different departments in its implementation.
The Treasury said it would not be able to support the policy before this process was completed. The cabinet also insisted it could only endorse the policy if agreement was reached with the Treasury on the way forward. The costing was expected to be concluded later this month.
Mogotsi said the labour activation initiatives were being included in the policy framework to respond to the cabinet’s concern about how the income support would be linked to other economic opportunities.
She emphasised that technology would be key in linking the basic income support with other government programmes. The revised and costed basic income support policy was expected to be submitted to the cabinet in March 2027, but this was dependent on the Treasury support, Mogotsi said. Before then a draft policy would have to be published for public comment and a socioeconomic assessment obtained.
The department’s acting deputy director-general, Jacques van Zuydam, emphasised that the policy was one for the whole of government, so there was a need to reach consensus with other departments.
MPs from across the political spectrum believed the March 2027 deadline was too far away and the policy development was too slow.
Social development minister Sisisi Tolashe said basic income support was crucial to assist the unemployed.
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