For some time, public health workers and criminologists have expressed concern that incarceration creates serious public health issues.
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How many law-abiding citizens reliant on state grants might be better off in prison rather than trying to feed and fend for themselves on less than $1.25 a day, or R624 a month?
The income threshold for the means test for the social relief grant is R624, the food poverty line. “A food poverty line is based on the cost of the minimum nutritional requirement of 2 100 kilocalories per person per day, without any allowance for non-food basic necessities,” according to the University of Cape Town report, Children Count.
Last month’s medium-term budget policy statement by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will condemn grant recipients to living below the United Nations’ definition of extreme poverty – “surviving on less than $1.25 a day”.
Even when combined with other grants, including the emergency grant of R350 a person, it barely tallies with the United Nations Development Programmes’ subsistence definition of poverty of $2 a day.
The result will reduce many South Africans to having to live below the UN’s basic threshold. It doesn’t have to be like this.
The R624 a month represents a drop in the grant since 2001, when the dollar exchange rate was R 7.77.
Compounding this is a further diminution of purchasing power because the price of imported staples such as rice and sorghum are rising disproportionately in local currencies, further bearing down on those who can least afford it. John Elligon, chief correspondent for The New York Times in South Africa, recently described this as “entrenched poverty”.
By way of contrast, the department of correctional services has a daily budget allowance of R385 to detain, clothe and feed prisoners, according to an October 2022 report to parliament. And in many prisons, it is even greater. As a proportion of the population, only the US, Russia and China jail more people than South Africa.
The correctional services committee report also deplores that many prison kitchens and canteens are dilapidated, unfit for purpose or needing urgent repair.
Costs are considerably steeper and profitable at the privately run Mangaung Prison at R435 per person a day, and R412 at the Kutama-Sinthumule prison, which is run as a public-private partnership involving the security company G4S and their black economic empowerment partner, Kensani Capital. These are lucrative and profitable arrangements, or why bother?
The disparities suggest that those wholly dependent on grants may fare better in jail than facing the increasing cost of living and inflation-related costs — curbing the little freedom afforded by the R624 a month social grants and any top-ups.
But this could be remedied before the budget is passed by removing or reducing funds from government departments that have “underperformed” and proved incapable or unable to properly account for or spend their budgets.
These include the ministries of defence (where Project Thusano funding Cuban engineers has been met with a disclaimer from the auditor general) and communications, which have repeatedly received qualified audits or disclaimers, because of their inability to properly manage their budgets. Solutions abound, including reducing the financing of cash-burning state-owned entities that enjoy unaudited and opaque subsidy appropriations.
Another area recently highlighted and requiring greater attention is Post Bank. The ministry cannot provide adequate controls over the unlicensed Post Office bank affiliate whose parent is officially insolvent – and a prospective grants distributor – that relies on double entry manual ledgers, raising questions about whether grants can properly monitored, accounted for and distributed, or assurances given that grants are provided on time or even in full.
Russell Rensburg, programme manager of health systems and policy for the
Rural Health Advocacy Project, said this week: “We are in favour of expanding the social safety net … as the cost of feeding a family of seven is now R3 700 per month and that covers only the basics, excluding accommodation, clothing, transport and any sanitary products.
“Food is an essential part of health and the needs of 30% of the population under 15 need to be met, while costs relating to the international market conditions have increased.”
Trevor Shaku, the spokesperson for the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), says the body has “registered dissatisfaction with the social relief of distress grant, at R350. We also are opposed to capping the income grants for the vulnerable at R624.
“R624 is not adequate by United Nations standards, which updated its international poverty line to $66.65 per 31 days [$2.15 = R36.83]. R350 of the social relief of distress grant makes R11.11 per day, while the R624 cap makes R20.12 per day. This means by international standards, the South African government condemns the unemployed to more poverty as it gives them a below poverty line grant.
“Concretely in the country, a Household Affordability Index has shown that a nutritional basket for children ranges between R722.19 and R950.16. In other words, adults are given a grant that would not even afford a nutritional basket for children between the ages of three and 18 years.
“In the context of this, Saftu has been calling for a basic income grant of R1 500.”
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Mail & Guardian.