Overview of CSI spend on social and community development in 2023

Trialogue conducts annual research into CSI spend on each development sector in South Africa. In 2023, 68 large companies participated in Trialogue’s primary research survey. According to the research, social and community development was supported by 74% of companies and received 13% of average CSI expenditure.

National context of social and community development in South Africa

• Government´s budget for social and community development increased from R364 billion in 2022/23 to R378 billion in 2023/24, constituting 16.9% of consolidated government expenditure of R2.24 trillion.
• Of the R378 billion budgeted for social development, R99 billion (26%) was allocated to the old-age grant, R92 billion (24%) to social security funds, R82 billion (22%) to the child support grant and R105 billion (28%) to other grants, provincial social development, and policy oversight and grant administration.
• According to the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), the total number of grant recipients as at 31 March 2023 was 18.8 million, of which 13 million received the child support grant (R510 per child per month), 3.9 million received the old-age grant (R2 090 or R2 110 per recipient per month), and one million received the disability grant (R2 090 per recipient per month). Additionally, about 11 million people received the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant of R350 per month which was introduced during Covid in 2020 and has been extended to 31 March 2024.
• In 2023, 21% of the South African population (more than 13 million people) was living under the global poverty threshold of US$2.15 a day, according to the World Data Lab. These rates are even higher using South Africa’s national poverty lines: approximately 55.5% of the population (30.3 million people) was living in poverty at the national upper-bound poverty line (UBPL) of R992 in 2015. Since then, the national UBPL has been adjusted for inflation to R1 417 in 2022, the national lower-bound poverty line at R945 and the food poverty line at R663 per person, per month.
• Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA) Quarterly Labour Force Survey showed that the total number of unemployed people increased from 7.8 million in the last quarter of 2022 to 7.9 million in the first quarter of 2023. The official unemployment rate stood at 32.9%, representing a labour force of 24.1 million out of a total working-age population of 40.6 million people, while the expanded unemployment rate, which includes those who are no longer looking for work, was 42.4%. Youth unemployment (15–34 years) reached a rate of 46.5% (4.9 million people) in the first quarter of 2023.
• According to the Department of Social Development’s annual performance plan, a total of 236 875 work opportunities were created through the Social Sector Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) in 2021/22, with targets of 176 474 for 2022/23 and 178 120 for 2023/24.
• The national minimum wage set by the Department of Employment and Labour, increased from R23.19 per hour in 2022 to R25.42 per hour (R4 067.20 per month), applicable from 1 March 2023. EPWP workers are entitled to earn R13.97 per hour, an increase from last year’s R12.75 per hour.

Overview of CSI spend

Social and community development was supported by 74% of companies and received 13% of average CSI expenditure.

Type of support

Average % CSI social and community development spend 2023 n=45

40% Welfare organisations

30% Job-creation programmes

13% Infrastructure, facilities and equipment

12% Awareness programmes

5% Other

• Forty percent of spend on social and community development went towards support for welfare organisations/programmes, up from 37% in 2022.
• Job-creation programmes received the second-largest share of CSI spend in this sector (30%), an increase from 22% in 2022.
• The average spend on job-creation programmes increased from 22% in 2022 to 30% in 2023.

Target beneficiaries

Average % CSI social and community development spend 2023 n=35

40 % Youth

19 % Unemployed people

15 % Orphans and vulnerable children

8 % People with disabilities

6 % Victims of violence and abuse

4% The aged

2% Prisoners/former prisoners

1% People with HIV/Aids

1% Animals

1% Homeless people

3% Other

• Youth (people aged between 15 and 29) continue to be the main beneficiaries of CSI spend on community and social development, receiving an average of 40% of spend in 2023.
• The average spend on unemployed persons increased to 19% in 2023 from 10% in 2022, making it the second most supported group for the first time.
• Support for orphans and vulnerable children moved from the second to third most supported group, receiving 15% of social and community development spend in 2023.
• The aged, prisoners/former prisoners, people with the human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/Aids) , animals and homeless people each continued to receive less than 5% of average CSI sector spend in 2023.

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Source: The original version of this article was published in the Trialogue Business in Society Handbook 2023 (26th edition).