Parties Woo South Africa’s Poorest Voters with Promise of Basic Income
As South Africans head to the polls on 29 May, both the ruling party and its challengers are promising to introduce a universal basic income – a long-standing demand by activists, including the Social Policy Initiative (SPI). Our Executive Director, Isobel Frye, emphasizes the importance of a basic income in addressing poverty and inequality. Read […]
SA FM Interview | Why is South Africa the most unequal country in the world?
SPI Applauds ANC’s Commitment to Universal Basic Income
The Social Policy Initiative (SPI) welcomes the press statement released yesterday by the ANC affirming the longstanding support by the ANC of the principle of Universal Basic Income support. We call on all political parties to come out in these last days before the elections to pledge support for the introduction of a decent Universal Basic Income Grant immediately after the elections, […]
Obituary: Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, 1950 to 2024.
SPI sadly mourns the passing of Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, and we extend our deepest sympathies to her family, her colleagues and the nation as we have lost one of the greats. Justice Mokgoro’ s life is an exemplar for social justice in South Africa, the region and globally. She served on the Constitutional Court as […]
Thought Leader: The overlooked potential of basic income in addressing socio economic crises
PRESS STATEMENT: Advocating for Universal Social Protection: SPI’s Address at the IMF/World Bank Spring Meeting
Download Press Statement Every year in Washington DC, the IMF and World Bank, the two leading International Financial Institutions (IFIs), host a landmark event to map out the policy priorities for the coming year. The event is called the IMF/WB Spring Meeting, or Spring Meetings. The Spring Meetings are a gathering of the Boards of […]
The Economics of Implementing a Universal Basic Income in South Africa [Webinar]
Download the Policy Brief Watch the Policy Brief Launch https://youtu.be/6kv4ZAjDkxw
A Right to a Decent Standard of Living for all, a Right to Dignity
The Social Policy Initiative is pleased to announce the screening of its documentary film “A Decent Path”, at this year’s Human Rights Day Festival at Constitutional Hill, on Thursday 21 March 2024. The film centres on beneficiaries of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant by telling the human story of the 8,5 million ordinary […]
Increase in Social Relief of Distress Grant
The Social Policy Initiative welcomes the announcement by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, on Wednesday 13 March 2024 in Parliament, on the increase of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant. The SRD Grant will increase by R20 and go from R350 to R370 per month, effective 1 April 2024. This after the Minister during his […]
A seven-pillar plan to rid SA of debt, unemployment and austerity
Read the article In a 1933 radio interview, John Maynard Keynes, the father of macroeconomics, said: “You will never balance the budget through measures which reduce national income. The chancellor would simply be chasing his own tail — or cloven hoof! It is the burden of unemployment and the decline in the national income which […]
