Levelling the playing field this Social Development Month

October marks Social Development Month. The month is meant to reaffirm a commitment to taking care of our society’s most vulnerable. On 16 October we also marked World Food Day, which aims to spotlight the millions of people around the world who cannot afford healthy and nutritious food and in effect are going hungry as a result of poverty, inequality and unemployment.

In South Africa it is estimated that currently one in every 10 people goes hungry every day and yet we are regarded as the most food-secure country in Africa. We produce enough food for everyone, but high food prices, unemployment and waste mean that people are locked out of being able to receive the food they need. Without an income how can people be expected to access the nutrition and sustenance they need?

Our Constitution clearly states that “everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water” and that “the state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of these rights”.

Not having this basic necessity has the direct impact of physical and mental stunting, mental health anguish such as depression and anxiety, and poor physical health, which often contribute to locking people into a cycle of poverty.

Recently I had the opportunity to interview Hein Marais, a writer and researcher specialising in political economy, development and public health, to discuss his argument for a universal basic income (UBI). He made the rather interesting point that, in order for people to live a life that is free of humiliation, anxiety, panic and desperation, we cannot rely on wage work.

“I would argue that it’s even more than a right … there is a basis in our Constitution to flesh out this right that would lead to a [UBI] being something that we can say is rightfully ours … a payment that is owed to everyone in society; that the wealth society produces and generates is not something produced by individuals, and that wealth is in fact a common wealth to which we are, in some small measure – and UBI is a small measure – entitled,” said Marais.

This would mean accepting that everyone is entitled to have at least a living income from the government that acknowledges the inherent inequality in our society, with just over 10% of our people not being able to feed themselves and more than 30% being unemployed because there simply are no jobs. However, the issue of hunger and nutrition needs to be at the centre of an effective social development plan.

The Department of Social Development introduced the Social Relief of Distress grant as a result of the ravages of Covid-19. However, it is debatable whether the amount is adequate and whether its accessibility, being based on a means test, is the right way to determine beneficiaries.

This has also prompted discussions of a more permanent solution in the vein of what Marais is proposing, but we also need to acknowledge that, while others languish in hunger and poverty, there are those who continue to make unseemly profits and as a result have an obligation to share those dividends with those who have nothing.