South Africa is a country that has been attempting to curb poverty for decades, for it is sadly one of the poorest countries on the planet. According to 2014 data, 55.5% of the population in the country was living below South Africa’s poverty line. This approximately means that 14 million people were living in both general poverty and food poverty since then, which is roughly one quarter of South Africa’s entire population.

The country made efforts to assist those living in poverty by providing clean water, schooling and stable households, but it is not enough; in 2014, non-monetary poverty had reached 22%. Recently, as of 2023, water deprivations reached 26%, lack of sanitation reached 39%, and removal of refuse and other waste reached a staggering 46%. The lack of resources that people in South Africa have is a massive hurdle towards fixing poverty.

Social Relief of Distress Program

To curb these numbers and the lack of resources people in South Africa have, the government created various policies to help bring more people out of poverty. Chief among them is the Social Relief of Distress program, which aims to help those in poverty who cannot meet the basic needs for survival by providing resources to them.

This program is free to apply to and those who qualify for it will receive either funding or food vouchers for up to three months. And while everyone can apply to this program, they must meet certain factors to be eligible for the program, such as having lost one’s own house, the family breadwinner, or being physically unable to work. People in these positions are usually living in poverty, so this program gives those impacted by it a large leg up and helps them get back on their feet. And the program is very popular; more than 10 million people are on the Social Relief of Distress program.

The Aid of the Government

Aside from these programs, the government addresses poverty and lack of resources in South Africa through its proposals and the way it spends its budget. In its 2025/26 budget, the government allocated 28.9 billion rands to the country’s health sector. The funding would go to various health care services, such as HIV testing and properly paying those who work in medical fields. The funding will also make health care services more accessible and less costly, which are some of the biggest hurdles for those living in poverty.

The South African government recently decided to extend the Social Relief of Distress grants until March 2026, when it was originally stated to end in March 2025. The government plans to keep the program intact until it implements something more sustainable, protecting current South Africans needing the program to stay afloat while preparing better options for the long term.

These programs and many other humanitarian efforts are instrumental in helping uplift many people living in South Africa out of poverty and into stable living situations.

– John Menechino

John is based in Marietta, GA, USA and focuses on Technology and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr