It is worth noting that social grants constitute as much as 70 per cent of the income of the poorest 20 per cent of this country’s citizens. Had it not been for these grants, around 40 per cent of South Africans would have seen a decline in their income in the new South Africa during the first decade post 1994.
To reduce inequality to more reasonable levels over the long run, social assistance is clearly not enough and should be complemented by other initiatives. These levels of social assistance are not sustainable over the long run and may be somewhat counter-productive in the end.