President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to extend welfare payments risks undermining South Africa’s long-term economic growth by compromising the government’s reform agenda and worsening the country’s fiscal deficit. In his annual State of the Nation Address on Feb. 10, Ramaphosa highlighted corruption, endemic poverty, inequality, unemployment and an unreliable power supply as some of the largest issues facing South Africa, and pledged to pursue sweeping economic reforms. In the same breath, Ramaphosa also announced that the nearly 10 million South Africans currently receiving monthly welfare payments of R350 ($23) would continue receiving those checks until March 2023. The extension of this stipend -- which was initially set to expire in March of this year -- will appease the growing number of South Africans reliant on government aid to make ends meet, who have historically cast ballots for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. But while this may help Ramaphosa stave...
