The Stats SA report, which shows a decline in poverty levels over the past 17 years, has been met with criticism, with civil organisations saying this is not a reflection of what is happening on the ground. 

The report, “Poverty trends in South Africa: An examination of absolute poverty between 2006 and 2023”, shows that people living below the lower-bound poverty line fell to 37.9% in 2023, or around 23 million people, from 58%, or 27 million people in 2006. 

This represents a notable 19.6% point reduction over 17 years. 

The report further highlights that progress in reducing poverty has been most pronounced among black African and Coloured populations, reflecting the positive impact of targeted social and economic interventions. 

However, the grassroots socialist movement of the poor, Abahlali baseMjondolo, said the reality on the ground shows a different picture from the Stats SA findings that poverty has been reduced.

The movement said that the unemployment rate has increased drastically over the years, while there are more people, especially the youth, who still live in a state of hopelessness in the townships and in informal settlements.

Unemployment stood at 32% while economic growth has been sluggish, averaging 0.7% over the past decade.  

“We have seen mothers resorting to cooking wild plants to feed their children. The children rely on the school nutrition scheme to have a meal a day. Since schools are closed, the children will suffer and will become a burden to their parents,” said spokesperson Thapelo Mohapi. 

Mohapi added that inequalities continue to grow as more people are becoming poor and a few are becoming millionaires at the expense of the poor. 

“11,000 children die from malnutrition in the country every year. We have had instances where a mother killed her children. We have seen women who are raising children alone taking the lives of children and their own as a result of dire poverty,” said Mohapi, adding that the reality on the ground is that people continue to live under abject poverty in shack settlements and in the rural areas.

Mohapi added that South Africa would not be able to fight poverty as long as the economy promotes inequality, where profit maximisation becomes more important than human lives.

“Tons of food in this country are wasted while there are children in the rural areas, as well as in the informal settlements, who go to sleep without food. Young women go to extreme measures in order to survive. Hunger has been normalised in our society,” Mohapi said, adding that there is a lack of political will to address the challenges. 

“We need a universal income grant of R1,500 for the unemployed. We support the introduction of the Malnutrition Grant that is being proposed to address the issue of malnutrition in children.” 

Social justice group, Black Sash, said while headline poverty levels may have declined over time, this progress is uneven and fragile. 

Spokesperson Oliver Meth said children, women, and working-age adults who are unemployed or informally employed continue to experience deep and persistent poverty. 

“In many households, social grants are stretched to support multiple people, masking the true extent of deprivation,” he said, adding that Black Sash continues to encounter high levels of food insecurity, indebtedness, and barriers to accessing social protection. 

Meth said many households rely on a single grant to survive, often skipping meals or cutting back on basic needs.

Meth said they are also experiencing: 

• Chronic unemployment, especially among young people, is eroding household resilience.
• Administrative failures within the social protection system — including grant delays, unjust suspensions, and exclusion errors that push already vulnerable people deeper into poverty.
• Growing pressure on caregivers, particularly women, who shoulder the burden of caring for children without adequate income support.

“While older persons are relatively better protected due to the Old Age Grant, children remain the most exposed, confirming the report’s finding that nearly half live below the deepest poverty line. Government has made important gains through social grants, which have demonstrably reduced poverty and inequality. However, this is not enough to address the scale and depth of poverty in South Africa today,” said Meth. 

He added that the current social protection system leaves millions of people of working age without adequate support, while the Child Support Grant remains too low to meet children’s basic needs.

He said even temporary measures, such as the SRD grant, while vital, fall short of providing long-term income security.

“To meaningfully combat poverty, government must strengthen and expand social protection, including moving toward a permanent, comprehensive income support for unemployed adults, while improving the administration and accessibility of existing grants,” said Meth. 

Meanwhile, the report noted that children (0 to 17 years) remain one of the most vulnerable groups in the country, making up 43.1% of the poor population in 2023, while older persons (65 years and above) saw the largest improvement in their poverty status, with their headcount dropping by 54.8% (a 30.6 percentage point decline) between 2006 and 2023. 

manyane.manyane@inl.co.za

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