Courtney Hallink

Historical sociologist | Postdoctoral Fellow @Wits_SCIS | #PayTheGrants

[Courtney Hallink @c_hallink]

‘Hunger gripping South Africa’: Panel on social grants, poverty, UBI, Tr... https://t.co/9E0AglJq2X via @YouTube

[Hannah Dawson @HannahJoburg]

A few snaps from the launch last week! People from all chapters of my life showed up to listen. A big thanks to @LoveBooksJozi and @WitsPress , to @ThabangSefalax2 for being a generous and insightful interlocutor, and to everyone who came

[Courtney Hallink @c_hallink]

Zulaikha Patel: 'GNU', US-SA, 2024 election, land, Afriforum, African In... https://t.co/sYeq6LTCBO via @YouTube

Amazing episode with Zulaikha Patel

[Bethlehem Tekola @Bethlehemtekola]

We need more academics who question, "But who are all these journal articles for? "

It feels like there is too much writing, not enough reading, and little or no action.

[Courtney Hallink @c_hallink]

@justin_win_ Fantastic work! I don’t have institutional access to your paper. Would you be able to send a pdf ? 🙏🙏

[Ndifuna Ukwazi @NdifunaUkwazi]

🚨 Johannesburg family, we need you! 🚨

We’re excited to share that #MotherCityDocumentary has been officially selected for the Joburg Film Festival 2025! 🎬✨

📍 Screening details:
📅 Saturday, 15 March 2025
⏰ 1 PM
📍 Nu-Metro Hyde Park, Johannesburg

This documentary tells an urgent and powerful story about community struggles, resilience, and justice. It’s a film that speaks to our times—don’t miss it!

We’d love to see all my Joburg-based friends, colleagues, and comrades there. Let’s show up, reflect, and keep pushing for change together!

🎟️ Grab your tickets & spread the word!
🔗 More info: https://t.co/DoROjj3BGg

#MotherCityFilm #JoburgFilmFestival #JFF2025 #JohannesburgEvents #SAFilm #AfricanCinema #ActivismThroughArt #FilmForChange #SupportLocalFilms

[Neil Coleman @NeilColemanSA]

‼️

[Institute for Economic Justice @IEJ_SA]

JOINT STATEMENT | Civil society calls on @CyrilRamaphosa to censure Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana for his dishonest and harmful comments on the #SRDgrant.
Read the full statement 👇🏾 - https://t.co/szRNOmqfAB

[Institute for Economic Justice @IEJ_SA]

OPINION PIECE | In the build-up to Budget 2.0, IEJ Executive Director Dr @GiladIsaacs challenges the research & very weak evidence underpinning a continued push for a VAT increase. #Budget2025 https://t.co/lX9R7bfg9Q

[Courtney Hallink @c_hallink]

https://t.co/gg695xuoi9

[Courtney Hallink @c_hallink]

https://t.co/PmTYjKToZY

[Institute for Economic Justice @IEJ_SA]

🚨 PRESS CONFERENCE | The judgment in the SRD grant case is a resounding victory for fairness, dignity & constitutional rights, & a forceful rebuke of the state's actions which have hampered the rights of millions. Join us tomorrow at 1 PM, in person or online, to hear more.

[#PayTheGrants @PayTheGrants]

Historic Judgment Announcement!

The SRD Grant has faced attacks, excluding millions. In 2024, the #PTG movement, represented by IEJ and SERI, challenged the Government in court. Today, we celebrate justice for our people! Join us tomorrow

[Institute for Economic Justice @IEJ_SA]

WARNING: Treasury is trying to kill the SRD Grant and basic income support. Despite the crisis of hunger, poverty, and unemployment, @TreasuryRSA in the #MTBPS2024 proposes to reduce the amount allocated to social grants by over R20 billion, and makes *no provision* for the #SRDGrant from 2025. What will this mean if implemented?

➡️Removal of income support from over 8 million of the poorest South Africans.

➡️A large reduction of income going into economically depressed communities, and therefore a deepening of economic depression.

➡️The likelihood of a massive revolt, including food riots. We have warned repeatedly that Treasury wants to terminate this life-saving grant, and reduce the amount spent on income transfers. This goes directly against the President's repeated commitments to extend and improve the R370 SRD, until a permanent system of basic income is put in place.

In the #MTBPS2024 documents, Treasury states that: *there needs to be a link between grants and employment measures; * 'big data' ie digital verification systems need to be used to reduce the number of grant beneficiaries, suggesting that the massive digital exclusions applied to the SRD will now be used for the other grants; * a final decision on the above (including by implication replacement of the SRD) will be announced in the 2025 budget. Treasury is therefore working overtime to reduce spending on income transfers, at a time when poverty and hunger are rising.

Some mechanisms they are considering, all of them deeply problematic, include: * replacing the SRD with a much smaller jobseekers grant. The multiple problems with this proposal are outlined in the @IEJ_SA
brief below. *collapsing grants into a consolidated grant, thus potentially removing the function of dedicated grants such as the CSG, the OAP, and disability grants.

One idea they have mooted (previously shot down) is that of a family grant. * use of digital application and verification methods to radically reduce the number of grant beneficiaries. Progressive civil society will resist these proposals, and this anti-poor Treasury unilateralism with all the power at our disposal.

@_cosatu
@SAFTU_media
@UBIC
@budgetjusticesa
@PayTheGrants
@IEJ_SA
@black_sash
@SERI_RightsSA
@SACP1921
@ArchbishopThabo
@PresidencyZA
@MYANC
@Zwelinzima1
@ThuliMadonsela3

🔗https://t.co/3ZIQxpaKPg

[Institute for Economic Justice @IEJ_SA]

[LIVESTREAM] Watch the proceedings of IEJ & @PayTheGrants’ crucial legal challenge against the South African government's exclusionary #SRDgrant regulations.

Follow us for updates as this case unfolds.

#PayTheGrants #EconomicJustice #BasicIncome #BIG

https://t.co/YMeGkvs2dW

[Courtney Hallink @c_hallink]

Listen to the live stream of the Social Relief of Distress court hearing here:

https://t.co/bXqDpNquAN

[#PayTheGrants @PayTheGrants]

Many South Africans, struggling to survive, are pinning their hopes on a court challenge that seeks to overhaul the social relief of distress (SRD) grant system – which is accused of failing those who need it the most.
29 & 30 October 2024

[Courtney Hallink @c_hallink]

@UBIC_ZA @PayTheGrants @IEJ_SA @kellehowson and @VaydaMegannon's op-ed sheds light on the South African state's use of biometric surveillance to bottleneck access to the Social Relief of Distress grant. A must-read!

@OfficialSASSA do better!

[Neil Coleman @NeilColemanSA]

Treasury aims to terminate the SRD Grant

Statements by a Treasury official at a World Bank webinar last week suggest that Treasury is still intent on terminating the SRD Grant, despite the President's public commitment to retaining it, & transitioning it into a system of #BasicIncome.

The official hinted strongly that they want to replace the SRD Grant, take it out of DSD's hands, & replace it with a much more limited jobseekers grant, located in the DEL.

All the proposals for a narrow jobseeker’s grant advanced so far entail the removal of income support from millions of South Africans currently receiving the SRD. This would be a disaster!

Despite the clear evidence in favour of broadening income support, and the compelling arguments against the appropriateness of job seeking conditionalities (including by the IMF & Presidency experts) Treasury persists in doggedly pursuing this path, purely out of narrow (and self defeating) fiscal considerations.

While we would like to engage with Treasury on the evidence, and on a rational basis, their narrow ideological lens makes this extremely difficult.

PS for those wanting to consider the relevance of a jobseeker’s grant in SA, here is an article outlining the multiple flaws in this proposal:
https://t.co/wHWMBoPgbl