David Neves, University of the Western Cape and Deborah James, London School of Economics and Political Science
Entities at the centre of the storm engulfing South Africa’s social grants distribution system have claimed to be champions of financial inclusion. The claim in itself is scandalous.
South Africa’s Constitutional Court has repeatedly stepped in to protect vulnerable people and to perform what former deputy chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke calls its “transformative role”.
South Africa’s social grant scandal seems to back up highly regarded views on public governance that Public Private Partnerships aren’t naturally efficient.
In his 2017/18 budget speech, South Africa’s finance minister Pravin Gordhan opted to focus on taxing high income earners to find desperately needed money.
The South African Social Security Agency has created a crisis that threatens to deliver social grant recipients on a silver platter into the hands of unscrupulous financial services companies.
Social welfare budgets have simply not been adequate to plug decades’ worth of under-resourcing, especially in black communities. It’s a good place for government to start giving life to its slogans
A change of attitude which comes with some deep introspection by South African business leaders can help address some of the country’s key socioeconomic challenges.
The lack of service integration and the paucity of welfare services make poor people’s task of caring for their familes much harder. A small monthly cash transfer can’t solve all their challenges.
What seems to be a simple question of banks’ responsibilities is actually a major issue playing out where social security, banking, property, criminal and constitutional law intersect.
South Africa’s government should urgently announce a moratorium on civil service employment growth. The country has reached its upper limit in the number of civil servants that can be sustained.
Could the surge of worker and popular resistance worldwide provide the global trade union movement with an opportunity to take the lead in developing a broad coalition of social forces?
One in five workers in South Africa is poor. The plight of the working poor has wide implications. Employers have a responsibility to ensure a minimum level of decent wages.