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Civil organizations are asking the government to increase and extend the social unemployment benefit R350 until the end of the financial year, as between 20% and 40% of the people who lost their jobs during the shutdown were forced into poverty extreme.
At a Zoom webinar on Monday morning, former public protector Thuli Madonsela, the general secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions Zwelinzima Vavi and organizations such as the C19 Peoples Coalition, Institute for Economic Justice and Black Sash, endorsed the #PayTheGrant campaign. which was aimed at fighting poverty in the country.
Together, they asked the government to increase the social distress relief grant from R350 and the caregiver grant to R585 per month until the end of the financial year in March next year until a comprehensive plan for guaranteed basic income is in place.
If the grants were withdrawn, they would place an immense burden on the shoulders of women and women, who are often the primary caregivers, Madonsela said.
“If this grant is withdrawn now amid the shock of the shutdown, women and girls will pay the price. Firstly, from the point of view of carrying the burden of care, but secondly, when there is anguish, violence increases and those who are vulnerable to that violence are girls and women, ”said Madonsela.
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“That is improper, unconstitutional and a violation of social justice and something we will live to regret. If there is injustice, there can be no sustainable peace. “
But while between 2.2 million and 2.5 million people have lost their jobs during the shutdown, between 20% and 40% of them were pushed into extreme poverty when economic activities were halted in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19.
According to research by economics expert and PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Ihsaan Bassier, social grants have lifted four to five million people out of poverty.
“How else do we get the government’s commitment to alleviating poverty if we don’t take this necessary opportunity to expand the grant system and address poverty? … There has been a lot of talk about jobs and recovery and it will take time, but in the meantime, something should dampen it. These grants are to help with Covid-19 [effects] which is far from over, ”Bassier said.
However, the perceptions and opinions that those who lived on social grants were lazy and did not seek employment were an insult to the unemployed, said Daddy Mabe of the Assembly of the Unemployed and Grant Payment. Mabe had initially lost her job in 2001.
“From 2001 to three years ago, I was able to run and manage on my own. It is a daily fight. Sometimes it takes up to 48 hours to get R20. I have two children who are unemployed. One is a graduate. But people who say that those who receive grants are lazy, that’s an insult, ”Mabe said.
The organizations would meet with the government on Monday to request the increase and extension of the grant.
If the government declines, Madonsela said they would exert more pressure. He said a review of cabinet members’ spending on security, which was too strict for a country that was not the most dangerous in Africa.
“We know that there is no pot of gold to cover this. It is a matter of transferring that money elsewhere … The amount of security that is provided to members of the Executive is quite excessive for a country like ours, ”said Madonsela.
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