COLLOQUIUM LOOKS FOR INNOVATIVE WAYS TO FIGHT POVERTY AND EMPOWER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

By Thandeka Stampu.

• Governments must focus on the triple challenge of social relief, economic growth, and transformation to build countries with a strong, long-term socio-economic foundation.
• This formed the basis of a discussion by Dr Michael Samson at the policy colloquium taking place over the next two days in Sandton.
• ⁠His address outlined global lessons on building inclusive social protection systems, transforming the systems from social handouts to agency.

There is no better investment any government can make, not only in terms of tackling poverty and vulnerability, than to build the foundation for a nation’s long-term prosperity by focusing on social relief, economic growth, and transformation.

So said Dr Michael Samson, the research director at the Economic Policy Research Institute, during the first day of a two-day policy colloquium looking at ways of integrating social protection and income-generating opportunities in South Africa.

Speaking on the topic “From transfers to transformation: Global lessons in building inclusive social protection systems” at the colloquium in Sandton on 28 October 2025, Dr Samson focused on three waves: social grants, economic growth and the way to transformation.

Social grants

Over the past three decades, social grants have been central to social protection, with South Africa’s Child Support Grant having had a transformative impact on activist social protection policy, Dr Samson said.

He noted the evaluations made by the Department of Social Development on the South African Child Support Grant, along with documented links by hundreds of independent researchers, had even inspired the government of Thailand to adopt a child support grant. “The influence of this programme reaches across the world.”

Researchers found that even though the design of the child support grant aimed to tackle poverty and vulnerability, it also strengthened social inclusion.

Economic growth

Dr Samson noted that the Drought Support Grant, provided to farmers in Australia, did not create dependency but promoted development. Workers in households receiving the grant wanted to work more, were actively looking for work, and were supporting their livelihoods more successfully.

Around the world, the developmental impacts are evident, with the link between social protection and growth an obvious impact.

However, the initial impulse of governments across Africa and around the world is on public works. But rarely do they meet the targets set. “They’re challenging because they’re very expensive to deliver at scale, and they rarely meet the needs of the poorest and the most vulnerable,” Dr Samson said.

Nonetheless, there are bright spots in the landscape. One example is India’s employment guarantee scheme, which is more effective in tackling poverty than almost any other programme. However, it also falls short of providing a work-career path for people participating in the programme.

The way to transformation

Dr Samson suggested that different models should be considered, such as those presented in graduation programmes. The graduation programme sees poor social protection benefits improved through an inter-sectoral approach.

Even Africa’s most successful basic public works programme, the Productive Safety Net Programme, is using this approach.

“We’re going to graduate people out of social assistance,” he concluded.