GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
Unite for Change Leadership Committee Member & GOOD Secretary-General
25 February 2026
This year’s budget was delivered at a time of cautious optimism, a relatively stable macroeconomic outlook and an upgrade by S&P Global Ratings. But stability on paper must translate into tangible outcomes for the most vulnerable.
Another year has passed without the introduction of a Basic Income Grant. Instead, the Social Relief of Distress grant has merely been rebranded as a “livelihood grant.”
At R370 per month, it does not lift a single recipient above the food poverty line.
A meaningful Basic Income Grant is not charity; it is economic justice. It is a tool for structural inclusion in a country with entrenched unemployment. It is gender equity in practice, given that women disproportionately carry the burden of poverty and unpaid care work.
Today’s fiscal numbers may reassure markets. There is, however, little evidence that they will ease hunger, reduce inequality, or shift the lived reality of millions.
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