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This is an ambitious document, in that it seeks to place a theoretical approach to understanding the issues involving the
conceptualisation, definition and measurement of poverty in an accessible manner, as well as to reflect more technical concerns regarding the nature and quality of data that exists which any poverty measure would have to draw on in a manner that does not alienate “lay people”. We have also tried to provide a description of historical attempts to measure poverty in South Africa to ensure that current discussions do not take place in an a contextual manner.

With the endorsement by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which is constitutionally obliged to report annually on the defence and advancement of the rights in the Constitution, SPII has developed a methodology based on a combination of policy and budget analysis and statistical indicators to monitor and evaluate the progressive realisation of rights.

The social wage has wide currency in South Africa today in a political-policy sense but the economics and social policy
framework remain illusive, both in definition and consequently measurement. The main focus in South Africa is the role
of the social wage in alleviating poverty for those with the low or no wage income. It is viewed as an aggregation of state
provided or funded inputs which off-set the absence of wages but is also taken to mean state provided free basic services. These are generally taken to be redistributive and progressive in the effect of shifting resource allocations within society: the question remains whether these are sufficiently so. The review concludes that the absence of a coherent policy framework limits meaningful measurement of the social wage. It concludes that policy choices and prioritization is required if the social wage is to become less an aggregate of government social spending and more a distinct policy instrument.

How the Pandemic Impacts South Africa’s responses and obligations to the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights.

This paper’s objective is to inform South African debates about the feasibility of introducing a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG).

This paper adds to the growing resource of research reports about the financing of a BIG in South Africa that have proliferated since the start the of pandemicinduced recession in 2020.