Basic income grant policy will take another year at least

People protest for the R350 grants outside Sassa office in Bellville, Cape Town, in April. Picture: Gallo Images The Department of Social Development (DSD) is aiming to submit its revised policy for basic income support (BIS) to Cabinet by March 2027. The department briefed Parliament’s portfolio committee for social development on Wednesday on its second-quarter performance for the 2025/26 financial year, and gave an update on progress made in developing a universal basic income support (BIS) policy.

The DSD first tabled a draft BIS policy before Cabinet in November 2024, but Cabinet sent it back for further work. Chief director for social assistance Maureen Mogotsi told MPs that Cabinet had specifically instructed the department to strengthen the policy’s links to economic inclusion measures for Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant beneficiaries. She said further consultations were held with the departments of employment and labour, public works and small business development, “culminating in a June 2025 consultation report whose findings were incorporated into a revised BIS policy”.

That revised policy was shared with National Treasury and the Presidency. “One of the key instructions was to engage National Treasury on the sustainability of the BIS,” Mogotsi said. In October 2025, the department convened a two-day policy colloquium, bringing together affected government departments, the National Treasury, the Presidency and local and international experts.

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Mogotsi said the colloquium aimed to build the case for continued income support for working-age adults. “The Presidency has provided essential support for the work and facilitated engagements with other government initiatives, such as the MyMzansi programme and other labour activation initiatives,” she said.

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