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Jump-Starting the economy and destroying the Apartheid Legacy through the Social Wage
 
For the 2019 Election, ADeC is proud to announce our flagship holistic policy for combating the numerous problems facing our country. We call it a universal Social wage, and how it works is amazingly simple.
 
The Universal Social Wage would be an overhaul of our struggling SASSA programs, and introducing a R2000 (to start with) Social Wage for every unemployed South Africa.
 
This Social Wage, along without other economic policies are designed to encourage positive transformation in our society, and ensure that no one is left behind in the 4th industrial revolution, particularly those most affected by the mechanisation of manufacturing and in the service sector.
 
Here are a few of the ways the universal social wage will bring about transformation:
 
Restores dignity, strengthening the family
 
Not being able to take part economically in the prosperity of your community, family and country can have harmful effects on the human psyche. Having a social wage of R2000 a month not only allows for an individual to provide for themselves and their family in a physical sense, but allows for the individual to have dreams and aspirations that they can work towards and combat hopelessness that we find present in so many individuals. The social wage will also contribute to taking away the pressures felt by many male household members to be sole providers and the expectation that woman to be solely child rearers. In turn, transforming power dynamics can play a role in combatting the culture that leads to gender-based violence.
 
Increasing wages, growing the economy
 
Many South Africans find themselves being taken advantage by employers who put profit before human dignity. Having a social wage of R2000 will place pressure on employers to provide appropriate compensation for labour, and remove the pressure from the unemployed to accept poverty wages for their hard work. Further, the R2000 available for unemployed individuals will provide a stimulus at the bottom of the economy, allowing the resources to move up through the economy, creating jobs and empowering entrepreneurs along the way.
 
Fighting Poverty and Combatting Crime
 
Having R2000 in hand, means that a person will be far more capable to afford their basic necessities. This in combination with community development and support programs that engage in training and assisting with critical service providing, will allow unemployed individuals to use the time to further train themselves, and improve employment opportunities, rather than fighting to simply survive. Further by providing penalties and suspensions of the wage when a recipient commits crime this will create a double incentive for individuals to not commit crime. Instead of individuals being forced into crime because of poverty, they will be forced out of crime because of the Social Wage.
 
But how do we pay for it?
 
That’s straight forward. In 2017, Government ministers fighting State Capture estimated that we are losing at least 100 billion rand to corruption every year. Furthermore, wasteful expenditure in government, through over-employment, excessive ministries and excessive costing tenders is consuming massive amounts of our budget for little to no effect in transformation.
 
This policy will be paid for by the elimination of corruption, fixing the wasteful government expenditure, and reviewing the current tax structures and the social grant model.
 
The Universal Social Wage is not only possible, it is critical, and if we want to jump-start our economy, and transform our society to uplift all that live in it, and not just the privileged few, we need to implement the Universal Social Wage NOW. On the 8th of May, Vote ADeC. You’ll find us 3rd from the bottom on the National Ballot.

Issued by ADeC