GOOD speech by Brett Herron,
GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
24 March 2022
SOCIAL RELIEF GRANT (R350 PER MONTH) CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY
Note to editors: This speech was delivered by GOOD Secretary-General, Brett Herron, during the debate today in Parliament on the Division of Revenue Bill (DORA).
Madam Speaker,
Our number one priority must be to address the pervasive and pernicious poverty that is endemic across our country.
We will address this poverty by growing our economy in the right sectors, creating jobs, and providing social security for those without an income because our economy is not generating enough jobs.
Balancing our budget, reducing our deficit and turning our anaemic growth projections around are crucial.
We will not create enough jobs to make a meaningful impact on unemployment unless we get our economic growth up to at least 3% per annum.
The projected growth rates for the medium term – hovering just below 2% – are not acceptable and our government should not settle for that level of growth.
If Russia’s war on Ukraine is not resolved quickly our economic growth could fall to below 1% per annum in the medium term.
Our government has a duty to ensure that this does not happen.
Therefore our government has a duty to step up and mediate if that is the role that it sees for itself in this conflict.
This is a role we would support – but we don’t have the luxury of time.
We welcome the emphasis on infrastructure-led economic growth.
All of our governments, including provincial and local, should be focussing on the historical under-development of infrastructure in some communities and the infrastructure deficits and backlogs that have grown as we have urbanised and developed.
Rolling out a large scale infrastructure programme is an investment in our economy, an investment in our people’s lived experiences and an opportunity to create significant numbers of jobs.
Small business and self-employment presents the greatest opportunity for us to reduce unemployment.
Some analysis concludes that we can halve our unemployment rate if we were to achieve the same levels of self-employment as our peer countries.
The Bounce-Back financing scheme appears to prioritise existing businesses whose revenue and cashflows were affected by the pandemic.
We need funding for those who have the idea, the passion and the courage to start their own business.
The greatest obstacle to self-employment and small business growth is not red-tape. It is access to start-up funding.
Finally, we cannot ignore the third cog in the wheel of addressing poverty. The provision of some income to those who have no income because they cannot find a job, cannot create a job, and don’t qualify for any of the current social security cash transfers.
We have to be honest with ourselves. We are not extending the R350 per month social relief grant for 12 months. That grant can never be taken away.
We have 10 million people who are currently relying on it. We will not easily survive the socio-economic shock of cancelling access to that grant.
We support the bill but we urge Treasury to stop planning for this allocation as temporary – it is not.
It is time to take a basic income grant seriously and treasury must plan for this.
We cannot afford not to.
Thank you.
Media enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Samkelo Mgobozi, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0792315977 (WhatsApp)/0829684021 (calls)
Email: samm@forgood.org.za