As we know, governing is about balances: short-term vs long-term; tax vs growth; education vs health, and so many others. Honestly, when I hear about these proposals to tax South Africans even more, my heart just sinks. Where have people been over the past two decades? How has that policy worke.
Analyses of the implications of extending income support measures in South Africa, including a basic income grant, have focused on one of three things: how much it will cost, calculations about how much revenue would need to be raised (but without assessing the ripple effects), and how it might affect the incomes of the rich and the poor.