‘Recipe for chaos’ as grant recipients now outnumber people with jobs in SA
The number of people receiving social grants has risen more than threefold in the past 15 years, the SA Institute of Race Relations says
The number of people receiving grants has increased by 328% in 15 years‚ while those with jobs increased by only 24%. This is according to the latest South Africa Survey published by the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR). The IRR survey showed that in 2001, there were 12,494,000 people in employment and 3,993,133 people receiving social grants. Fifteen years later‚ there were more people receiving social grants in SA than there were people with jobs. According to IRR analyst Gerbrandt van Heerden: "In 2016‚ there were 15,545,000 people with jobs in SA while 17,094,331 people were receiving social grants." Van Heerden said: "The numbers are a recipe for social and political chaos. With SA formally in recession‚ the government will find it difficult to afford the cost of its social grants programme. As the economy stagnates‚ and tax revenue slows‚ demand for more grants will increase. The government will then have to cut other areas of expenditure in order to meet popula...
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