As South Africa prepares to hear the 2026 State of the Nation Address, Black Sash calls on government to take urgent and concrete action to protect and expand social support for those living in poverty. With more than two-thirds of South Africans living below the upper-bound poverty line, delays in delivering adequate social protection are unacceptable.
For years, government has promised to transform the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant into a Basic Income Support grant, yet little progress has been made. The SRD grant currently provides only a fraction of what is needed to meet basic living costs, and millions of eligible people are excluded due to unnecessary bureaucratic barriers. These gaps must be addressed immediately, including simplifying application processes, fixing verification systems, and increasing grant values to reflect the true cost of living.
Longstanding social grants for children, older persons, and people with disabilities are also under threat. New verification and biometric systems risk excluding the most vulnerable while addressing only a tiny fraction of fraud cases. At the same time, funding for the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which has provided over 2.5 million work and livelihood opportunities since 2020, is being reduced. Public employment programmes like the PES, alongside social grants, are essential for communities to survive and for local economies to thrive.
The Basic Income Support grant has the potential to transform not just individual lives, but the economy as a whole. By providing a stable source of income to millions of working-age South Africans, it can enable people to start small businesses, invest in skills and education, search for jobs, and care for their families. This would increase local spending, stimulate township and rural economies, boost productivity, and generate more government revenue. A well-designed BIS is both a social and economic investment, creating a virtuous cycle that lifts communities while supporting sustainable growth.
Black Sash urges the President to go beyond promises and provide a clear, actionable plan with binding timelines and measurable targets. Adequate, universal social protection is not just a policy option-it is a moral and economic necessity. Without it,
hunger, exclusion, and inequality will continue to hold back millions of South Africans and undermine efforts toward meaningful economic transformation.
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Antony Mafume
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