![]() ![]() Notes: *The assumptions around eligibility and takeup for the COVID-19 grant are discussed in Bhorat, Oosthuizen & Stanwix, 2020. Source: NIDS (2017), GHS (2018), and Department of Social Development (2020). ![]() COVID-19-induced changes to social assistance in South Africa, by grant type Indeed, in previous research, we have shown that the distribution of the COVID-19 grant has been relatively pro-poor: For every grant recipient in the richest quintile of households, more than five other recipients live in the poorest. ![]() The president’s October announcement included a further extension of the availability of the COVID-19 grant, given its impressive reach (4.2 million previously unreached individuals) in just four months (equivalent to the growth of the grants system in the last 10 years) and subsequent poverty-reducing effects. The COVID-19 grant is targeted at individuals above the age of 18, unemployed, and neither receiving any income nor any other social grant or support from the UIF. ![]() Notably, about 10 percent of the stimulus package, or $3.2 billion, was allocated to social assistance, including an expansion of cash transfers or social grants at both the intensive (the amount of every existing social grant was increased) and extensive (a new, special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant was introduced) margins, for six months from May to October 2020. Authors’ own calculations.Īpproximately 90 percent of the stimulus package was allocated to additional health support, assistance to municipalities for the provision of basic services, wage protection through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), further income support through the tax system, financial support for small and informal businesses, and-the largest component-the credit guarantee scheme. COVID-19 stimulus expenditure, by country (% of GDP) Even when only examining “above-the-line” expenditures by government, South Africa is spending enormous amounts of money to get the country back on its feet. As a share of GDP, South Africa’s package represents the largest in the emerging markets notably larger than several high-income countries, including South Korea and Canada. So, not too long ago Willem and I made the most beautiful year planner in Google sheets to visualise our great plans.The Ramaphosa COVID-19 stimulus package, originally announced on April 21, is huge, amounting to approximately $26 billion, or 10 percent of the economy’s GDP (Figure 1). ''Moreover, I decided to quit my job to both avoid the hassle of going through the - very hierarchic and time consuming - process of leave application risking a decline, as well as to prepare and manage our move. I familiarised myself with the application process and I was aware of the fact that I had to travel to the Netherlands at least twice during this process.'' We set the date for August 2020, because I applied for a primary healthcare specialisation (the well known Dutch “huisarts”) post that starts on 1 September 2020. I am a doctor and have been working in South Africa for the past years, mainly in the infectious disease field, because there’s no lack of that here (even without Covid-19). ''Back in 2018, we decided it was time to move back to the Netherlands. ![]()
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