The government is suggesting a universal basic income grant from October.  It will be R1,270 (if they are targeting South Africa’s poverty line) a month and target about 33 million people.   I actually like the idea of that as an experiment because I think it could get spending going again in the economy.  A lot of countries do it in a different way – largely by printing money and I don’t think many people appreciate just how much money the American government has basically printed and given to all of those who have lost their jobs during this time.  All those who have lost their jobs have been given an extra Covid-19 grant of $600 a week on top of the basic income grant and close to 30 million people have received it.  That is something quite large and a lot of that money is spent back into the economy. 

I am not sure whether that type of thing works on a long-term basis, but this would be a good chance to try it as an experiment and then after a 6 month period reassess it.  The other side though of course is once people benefit from it, they very seldom are prepared to see that it is taken away from them.