With a third of the population unemployed, poverty has dramatically increased in South Africa in the past five years, and millions depend on grants.
As South Africa ns head to the polls on 29 May, both the ruling party and its challengers are promising to introduce a universal basic income - something activists have long called for, but are sceptical a new government can deliver.
"I work on the ground with beneficiaries, so I've picked up on a lot of cases where people only have maybe 200 rand in their bank account, and actually get declined by the government because of these 200 rand. Like it's too much... Yet the threshold is 624 rand." Those whose monthly income falls below the cut-off are eligible for a stipend of 350 rand - around 18 euros.
"I think we definitely need job creation; there's no jobs, so we need job creation," she told RFI."But I think a universal basic income grant should be introduced."to bring in some form of basic income if they win enough support at this month's election, including the ANC and ActionSA., a Johannesburg-based think tank that specialises in inequality and social security, is among the civil society groups advocating for an unconditional grant.
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