FinMark Trust met with the Minister of Social Development, Ms Nokuzola Sisisi Tolashe MP, on Friday, 6 March 2026, to share progress on the Generating Better Livelihoods (GBL) for Grant Recipients project, reflect on early lessons, and explore how the initiative can grow its impact across South Africa.

This meeting was the first opportunity for the project partners to brief the Minister since she assumed office as the Department’s political principal. It provided a platform for honest engagement on the realities of implementing livelihood initiatives in complex environments and on how government leadership can help unlock opportunities to scale what is working.

GBL is a pilot project led by the Department of Social Development (DSD) and its entities: the National Development Agency (NDA) and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), in partnership with FinMark Trust as an implementer and BRAC providing technical support. Together, the partners are applying the globally recognised graduation approach to help social protection beneficiaries build sustainable livelihoods and move towards greater economic independence.

For the Minister, the programme represents an encouraging example of how social protection can evolve to support long-term opportunity.

Connecting social protection beneficiaries to real economic opportunity A key theme of the engagement was how programmes like GBL can help bridge an important gap in South Africa’s development landscape: linking social protection to meaningful livelihood opportunities.

The programme supports participants with skills and income-generating opportunities, as well as coaching, financial inclusion and behavioural support, recognising that poverty is often shaped by multiple barriers, not only by a lack of income.

The discussion also highlighted how initiatives like GBL can contribute to the national conversation on the future of social protection. During the State of the Nation Address on 6 February 2026, the President noted that “the SRD Grant, introduced during COVID-19, has played a transformative role in keeping millions of South Africans out of food poverty.” He also committed to the grant continuing and being redesigned to more effectively support livelihoods, skills development, work opportunities, and productive activity.

In this context, the GBL model offers a practical pathway to support that commitment. The programme adapts the graduation approach pioneered by BRAC, which has been implemented in more than 50 countries over the past two decades and has supported millions of households to improve their livelihoods. Its comprehensive model – built around four pillars of support and sustained coaching – addresses the multiple barriers people face when trying to transition from social protection to sustainable economic participation.

“We should not leave anyone behind,” the Minister emphasised, encouraging partners to think broadly about how livelihood pathways can reach different groups and communities.

From ideas to evidence

The timing of the engagement was significant.

Since the project is underway in pilot sites across three provinces – KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Gauteng – the conversation has moved beyond theory to focus on real experiences and early evidence from the ground. Stories of participant progress, with lessons from implementation, illustrated both the promise of the approach and the challenges that remain.

The meeting also came at a strategic moment in the government planning cycle. As the DSD finalises its Annual Performance Plans (APPs), there is an opportunity to align departmental priorities with approaches that are already showing results.

“This engagement comes at an opportune time,” the Minister noted, recognising the value of sharing evidence as government shapes its plans for the coming year."

Being honest about the challenges

A strong message from the Minister was the importance of speaking openly about the systemic barriers that continue to shape unemployment and poverty in South Africa.

She encouraged programme partners to be bold and evidence-driven when communicating the realities of implementation, including labour market skills mismatches and the limitations of short-term or fragmented development interventions.

“If we are not honest about the challenges in our systems, it becomes difficult to intervene in a meaningful way,”

For the GBL partners, this openness is crucial to building stronger solutions and attracting the support needed to expand successful models.

Strengthening collaboration

The discussion emphasised the importance of collaboration across government institutions and development partners.

Some of the opportunities that emerged included bringing the GBL approach into broader conversations on basic income support (BIS), building stronger partnerships with organisations like the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), and encouraging provinces to learn from the practical experiences emerging from pilot sites.

In KwaZulu-Natal, community development practitioners are being trained to apply elements of the programme in their daily work, which shows that GBL can be integrated into government systems to create a lasting impact.

To maintain momentum, the Minister recommended holding quarterly or biannual engagements to review progress and identify areas where political leadership can support the initiative and unlock opportunities.

Looking ahead

As the programme continues to generate results, there is growing interest in how the model could reach more communities.

The next steps include presenting the programme at MINMEC, a forum where the Minister sits with MECs of DSD from all provinces. This is intended to strengthen collaboration within DSD and expand provincial capacity to implement the approach.

The meeting reinforced the shared commitment to ensure that social protection can serve as a pathway to opportunity, not only as a safety net.