THE government supported the idea of a basic income grant to relieve poverty, but the public service was not able to administer such a programme, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Thursday.
”It is quite obvious… our public service is not in a position to deliver that,” he told reporters in Pretoria, adding that this was his own view, not that of the Cabinet.
Skweyiya said the public service was not even able to cope with the current welfare grants. Many people supposed to be getting state assistance were being left by the wayside.
Before one could start talking of a basic income grant, one had to ensure that every person currently entitled to welfare payments was indeed receiving them, the minister said.
Funding for such a universal grant was also a concern.
Skweyiya was speaking at a gathering held to unveil the report of a special committee of inquiry into a comprehensive social security system for the country.
The document says a basic income grant of R100 per person per month would ”nearly completely eliminate” the occurrence of extreme poverty.
”On a headcount basis, approximately 6,3-million are moved out of poverty,” it states. ”The number of destitute individuals falls by 10,2-million people.”
The committee conceded that the conditions for an immediate roll-out of such a plan did not exist, and therefore proposed the gradual development of a comprehensive income support system. It said maintaining the status quo should not be an option.
”There will probably be considerable support for this option, particularly from those mainly concerned about possible financial implications of any proposed interventions,” the report says.
”This would be an ultimately short-sighted position. The current programmes fail to satisfy the constitutional imperatives and thus make the state vulnerable to Constitutional Court challenges, and are clearly inadequate.
”There is clearly a cost to not acting, which will sooner or later have to be borne by the country. Intervention sooner would be both socially and economically prudent.”
Skweyiya said Cabinet had tasked a ministerial committee with assessing the effect of the recommendations. They are to consider the implications to the fiscus, the tax regime, and the capacity of the government.
Asked when this committee was expected to report back, Skweyiya said: ”It can’t be before April next year.”
He conceded there were many problems with the current welfare system, but maintained that much progress had been made.
The number of children younger than seven who receive welfare grants has risen from 60 000 in 1999 to 1,5-million.
Nevertheless, there were still many children as well as elderly and disabled, especially in the rural areas, who did not have access to such grants.
The report says a basic income grant would reduce to zero the number of poor South Africans excluded from the social security system.
”Analysis indicates that the basic income grants have the potential, more than any other possible social protection intervention, to reduce poverty and promote human development and sustainable livelihoods.”
Such a grant would be paid to all citizens — eliminating the costs associated with a benefit targeted through a means test. One could target the grant by using the tax system, so that the net benefit was larger for the poorer beneficiaries, the committee proposed.
”Income support of this nature would assist the poor to access government services, thereby improving the effectiveness of many service delivery programmes and social policies.”
The committee’s view was that fiscal and administrative capacity existed for a phased introduction of such a grant. Households in clear distress should be given priority.
”An expansion of the social assistance grant system to adults living in destitution and poverty can have positive social and economic implications, and is fiscally feasible if seen as a
long-term intervention.”
Skweyiya welcomed the report, which he said was compiled by 18 ”very educated people”.
”You know, intellectuals are not always very practical,” the minister added.
He said the government was not ”tied” to the suggestions contained in the report, which would be responded to fully once it had been properly studied.
Public submissions on the report should be made to the department in writing by June 15. – Sapa