Johannesburg - South Africa's social welfare minister Zola Skweyiya has come out in support of a basic income grant (BIG), The Star reported on Friday.
It quoted him as saying: "I personally believe - and it's not an African National Congress position - that we do need something like that."
The government would be unable to reach the poorest of the poor and eradicate unemployment within the next ten years, the minister said.
Unemployment, and accordingly the country's social problems, would skyrocket if a form of BIG was not introduced.
"I am sure, in the coming (policy) conference of the ANC next year, it is one of the issues we will have to debate, and agree there is a need to relook at how we look after our people."
Skweyiya's view is in stark contrast to the government's current stance on the issue.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has said the country would go "bankrupt" if the state was forced to introduce a BIG.
Skweyiya hinted that the government might already be involved in investigating a form of universal income transfer.
"We are working towards something like that so that we can be able, all of us, to agree that there is a need for that. But it has not been possible so far," he said. - Sapa