The ANC sub-committee on Social Transformation says it will be implementing various interventions to alleviate the high cost of living for ordinary South Africans.
The party says interventions in this context include expansion of VAT exemptions on certain food items, deepening the social security system, strengthening cooperative banks to support small-medium enterprises and the conversion of the Social Relief of Distress Grant into a national minimum wage.
Chairperson of the ANC’s social transformation sub-committee, Zweli Mkhize elaborated on priority three of the ANC’s manifesto at a media briefing at Luthuli House this morning.
“The issue of the transport subsidy is something that the government will have to work on and emphasise. Around the issue of the National Minimum Wage, the focus should be on trying to make sure that it is sensitive to inflation and does create a distorted situation where the national minimum wage is not able to give relief in line with inflation,” says Mkhize.
The former Minister of Health says student accommodation pricing is another matter they will be paying attention.
“The other area which is a matter of concern raised by students is the student accommodation that has to be capped because there’s a lot of price gorging that has been identified at that level.”
