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universal basic incomelatest news & developments
The future of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant beyond the March 2027 extension remains uncertain. Archive photo: Chris Gilili

Future of SRD grant uncertain, treasury says

The Universal Basic Income Coalition said the government’s proposals to link the grant to employment-related conditions could exclude eligible beneficiaries

Gustavo Petro speaks at an event after the 2022 Congressional elections in Colombia, on March 13, 2022. (Photo by: Sebastian Barros/Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Colombian left ascends to power by uniting progressive forces

The fourth instalment on lessons for the left shows how the Colombian left built a successful electoral project in face of brutal opposition from entrenched elites backed by US…

The number of SRD applications has been growing steadily since its introduction in 2020. The 17 million applications mark was passed three months ago, but the real story is that the number of grants approved has not grown in a long time.

SA’s poor urgently need a decent universal basic income grant

The decision to provide a grant of R1 634, the upper bound poverty line, rests in the hands of the elite

Spend more: People wait for transport after buying food with child grants. A universal income will boost the country’s economic recovery. Photo: Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images

Is social security spending too high?

The country needs a universal basic income for adults and children to boost economic recovery and growth and reduce inequality

Hard slog: Amazon workers, like garbage collectors, nurses and cleaners, have little choice but to work punishingly long hours because their pay is low. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Our ancestors worked less and had better lives. What are we doing wrong?

In an age of both untold prosperity and existential crisis, it’s time to rethink work

Income grant: Big bang for a few rand

Corporate South Africa is rolling out the big guns to spike momentum towards a universal basic income grant that threatens to expose their sick graveyard economy

A picture taken in Vosloorus, southeast of Johannesburg, on July 12, 2021 shows the Gold Spot Shopping Centre after being looted. – South Africa said it was deploying troops to two provinces, including Johannesburg, after unrest sparked by the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma led to six deaths and widespread looting. Overwhelmed police are facing mobs who have ransacked stores. Six people have died, some with gunshot wounds, and 219 people have been arrested, according to a police tally issued before the army deployed. (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP) (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO/AFP via Getty Images)

The looting of shops during protests is a greater societal problem than meets the eye

This is not a protest, it is a ripple effect of poverty

What lengths would you go to to pay off your debt?

In this extract, from the anthology Upshot curated by Lauren Beukes, the author imagines rich people and voters at home deciding on his character’s fate