33% South Africans survive on Social Grants

16 million on Social Grant cannot be hailed as an achievement, rather it shows that almost a third of the country are destitute, Herman Mashaba, outspoken Black Like Me founder, told veteran talk show radio host, Tim Modise, in an interview.
“16 million social grant recipients means 16 million of your citizens cannot support themselves and their families. How can you then, really say, ‘this is success?’ I think success will happen the day we can celebrate by saying ‘last year, we had 16-million people on Social Grant. This year, we have 15-million’,” he argued.
What Mashaba has said, although coming from someone whose political allagience lies with the opposition, resonates with what analysts from the financial sector have voiced before. There is a danger that the government could be tempted to increase tax, overburdening the shrinking taxpayers’ base.