OVER the last three decades, there has been a proliferation of social protection programmes across the global south in what some have dubbed a development revolution. International development agencies across the ideological spectrum have embraced social protection as an effective and efficient instrument to reduce poverty and inequality. The advent of digital technologies has further strengthened support for social protection, including among development agencies sceptical of local state administration. Payments can be delivered electronically directly into the pockets of the poor. This seemingly circumvents networks of patronage and corruption. Author RUTH CASTEL-BRANCO, Research Manager, University of the Witwatersrand This apparent…