Following the release of Stats SA’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey on Tuesday, which showed that the unemployment rate has risen to 33.2%, with 8.4 million people jobless and nearly one in two young people unable to find work, advocacy group Black Sash called for the urgent introduction of a permanent Basic Income Grant (BIG) for unemployed South Africans.
"Behind these figures are millions of households facing hunger, deepening poverty and the daily struggle to survive," Black Sash pointed out. The organization reiterated its call for the urgent introduction of permanent BIG support for all those aged 18 to 59 with little or no income, set at a level that at least met the food poverty line and adjusted annually to inflation. However, while Black Sash and civil society continue to push for the urgent BIS grant, government progress remains slow amid growing concerns over affordability.
Cabinet has yet to approve the draft BIG policy, citing the need to ensure the grant was financially sustainable and linked to economic opportunities for recipients. General secretary of the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), Zwelinzima Vavi, said the federation was deeply alarmed at the latest figures. He said the results confirmed that the “country remained trapped in a jobs bloodbath”, and was now facing an even greater threat from external economic aggression.
- Read reports in the above regard by Mthobisi Nozulela at IOL Business and Jeanette Chabalala & Koena Mashale at SowetanLive
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