BL Premium reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s panel of economic advisers has recommended the extension of the emergency Covid-19 social grant for a period “of a few months” after the end of the national state of disaster. But, it stayed on script with existing Treasury policy on extending social welfare payments.
In a briefing note sent to Ramaphosa ahead of the state of the nation address in February, the presidential economic advisory council said the R350 social relief of distress grant should be maintained beyond the scheduled March end date. But the advisers argued against it being made permanent without an “affordability and economic assessment” being concluded. The body’s recommendations are in line with existing government policy. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in particular has argued that SA’s poverty alleviation strategy must be built on boosting the growth potential of the economy and job creation. He previously dismissed proponents of a basic income grant (BIG) as advocating a policy that would trap young people in a cycle of dependency. The panel’s recommendation comes as the government faces populist pressure for the introduction of a permanent BIG, with the Covid-19 relief measure seen as a starting point. The advisory council said that lifting the economy’s long-term potential growth rate must be a “critical precondition” for financing new grants.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Ramaphosa’s advisers warn against basic income grant, at BusinessLive
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