OPINION | Protecting dignity in unequal South Africa

by Shanelle Van Der Berg In a country where millions of people struggle daily to put food on the table, social protection is not a luxury or a handout. It is the difference between dignity and destitution. South Africa is the most unequal country in the world. For many South Africans who live in poverty, survival depends not on charity, but on the social safety net. At a time when economic hardship continues to deepen, social grants and other forms of social protection are not acts of generosity. They are investments in human dignity and social stability. Poverty is a collective societal problem. Social protection signals that society shares the responsibility for addressing poverty and inequality and acknowledges that the well-being of the poor is connected to the well-being of the community as a whole. In South Africa, which struggles with persistent inequality, unemployment and poverty, basic income support is a crucial lifeline for millions of people. As South Africa commemorates 30 years of signing its Constitution, we spotlight the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which has inspired constitutions across the globe. The UDHR recognises that social security and other economic, social and cultural rights are indispensable for human dignity and the free development of the individual. The UDHR provides for the “right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”. This sentiment is mirrored by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which guarantees justiciable socio-economic rights including affording the right to social protection to “everyone”. The right to social protection therefore reinforces the constitutional values of dignity, freedom and equality. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has noted that “social security, through its redistributive character, plays an important role in poverty reduction and alleviation, preventing social exclusion and promoting social inclusion”. Social protection should be available to everyone whose circumstances prevent them from realizing their socio-economic rights, including due to reasons such as sickness, maternity, disability or unemployment, unaffordable health care, or insufficient family support for dependent children or adults. Sustainable Development Goal 1 (“end poverty in all its forms everywhere”) likewise aims to ensure nationally appropriate social protection systems for “all”, including substantial coverage of the poor and vulnerable. According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the expanded unemployment rate (which includes discouraged work-seekers and other persons who want work but are not actively seeking employment) was 43.7% in the first quarter of 2026, with youth unemployment at a staggering 60.9%. These sobering statistics underline the importance of non-contributory schemes such as social grants, and the extension of these to everyone, including the unemployed. In 2018, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recommended that South Africa ensures basic income support for those with little to no income. The Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant is a significant step in responding to this recommendation. Extending social protection to the unemployed is essential, but it is not enough. Workers in the informal economy, including domestic workers and farm workers, and those at the cusp of formality such as small-scale fishers, are also entitled to social protection. For a domestic worker without unemployment protection or a seasonal farm worker, social protection can mean the difference between participation in society and exclusion from it. According to international guidance, South Africa should aim to provide a minimum level of coverage of risks and contingencies and expand this progressively over time. Of course, providing universal coverage comes with significant cost implications – especially so as social protection must be “adequate”. Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which reflects many of the socio-economic rights contained in the UDHR, South Africa is obliged to use “maximum available resources” to progressively realise the right to social security. Moreover, social protection should be viewed as a social good – an investment in human dignity – and not merely an instrument of financial policy. South Africa’s public debt sits at around 78.9% of GDP according to the International Monetary Fund, and more borrowing to cover the costs of universal social protection is not feasible. Instead, South Africa should focus on domestic resource mobilization to progressively realise the right to social protection. Progressive taxation policy coupled with curbing of irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure can help mobilise “maximum available resources” for the realization of this important right. New and progressive revenue measures, including proposals for wealth taxation that gained prominence during Brazil’s G20 presidency in 2024, deserve serious consideration. The introduction of a new wealth tax may go a long way towards bridging resource gaps that prevent government from expanding social protection to the unemployed and those working in the informal economy. Crucially, expanded social protection should be linked to jobs through active labour market policies to ensure that almost half the population – including the majority of young people – is able to escape poverty and live a life of dignity. In this way, basic income support linked to jobs can help accelerate South Africa’s development agenda. A society is ultimately judged by how it treats those who are most vulnerable. Expanding social protection is not only an economic imperative. It is a test of South Africa’s commitment to dignity, equality and justice for all over the next 30 years of constitutionalism and beyond. Shanelle Van Der Berg is a Human Rights Officer at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Southern Africa.