By Zwelinzima Vavi —
Opinion: The Congress of South African Trade Unions’ argument for a national minimum wage, comprehensive social security, and a basic income grant was greatly strengthened by the report released by Statistics SA on 3 February 2015, which exposed the shocking extent and continued persistence of extreme levels of poverty, writes the organisation’s General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
Stats SA has recalculated its poverty lines using 2011 as the baseline, which shows that more than half the population (53.8%) live in poverty. This vindicates the view of COSATU and a number of progressive research organisations who have long argued that previous official poverty lines (including the one used in the National Development Plan) are not a realistic reflection of the extent of poverty in the country.
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