In 2000 a South African government committee recommended the introduction of a basic income grant (BIG), consisting of a grant of R100 per month for every South African citizen, regardless of age or income level. The idea of basic income emerged as a response to the crisis of welfare states, and yet was relevant to South Africa even though it has never been a welfare state, because the problem of mass structural unemployment it faces has some similarity to the structural problems in Northern welfare states. Extreme poverty and inequality, insufficient administrative capacity, and the existence of a relatively well-developed social assistance system further accelerated demand for the BIG, making South Africa one of the first countries in the world to consider it as a policy alternative This paper produced by the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) attempts to explain the dynamics of the political process that led to the BIG being raised to the level of a 'policy alternative', that is, an option being seriously considered for government action; and explores the eventual consequences of the campaign for a BIG to be introduced.