Remarks by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the launch and hand over of the Census 2022 Results, Union Buildings, Tshwane

Minister in The Presidency, Ms Khumbudzo Ntshavheni,
Honourable Ministers,
Members of Parliament,
Statistician-General, Mr Risenga Maluleke,
Chairperson of the Statistics Council, Professor David Everatt,
Members of the Statistics Council,
Distinguished Guests,

It is a great honour to receive the results of Census 2022.

This is the fourth census undertaken since the advent of democracy in 1994, and, as such, it contributes to a vast body of knowledge that describes the state and the progress of our nation.

We applaud the magnitude of effort that went into compiling Census 2022.

We have been told that the enumerators from Statistics South Africa first began their tests in 2018. In the midst of their work, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Confronted by pandemic restrictions on the movement of people, Stats SA was innovative and adapted quickly.

Having decided in 2018 to develop multiple data-collection methods, including computer-assisted telephonic interviews and online self-enumeration options, Stats SA introduced complete digitisation of the entire census process.

As a result, we were able to undertake our census just four months after the initial date of October 2021.

Adapting to the fluid situation on the ground meant that data collection processes had to be rapidly modernised.

As a result, this is South Africa’s first-ever digital census, compiled from data collected from everyone within the borders of the country.

A census is one of the most complex exercises a nation can undertake.

It involves years of preparation and planning.

It is a tough task for enumerators, who have to traverse the country counting people in households, hospitals, prisons and other institutions, the homeless and people in transit at our borders.

A census involves collating, aggregating and publishing complex demographic, health, economic and sociological data sets.

Statistics South Africa must be commended for placing an absolute premium on the credibility and integrity of the data, and adhering to international best practice.

It is important that South Africans have the utmost confidence in the numbers that have been presented today, and will therefore welcome the statement by the Statistics Council on the results.

The data contained in a census is one of the most crucial planning, monitoring and evaluation tools for governments.

It informs the planning, budgeting and policy-making work of government at the most fundamental level.

We have long said that one of our priorities in building a capable, ethical, developmental state is to ensure that policy making is evidence-driven.

Policy making that is not informed by accurate data can result in inefficiency in the allocation of resources, under-estimation of the needs of citizens, poorly planned programmes and poor financial management.

Unless we are able to see the bigger picture, we are unable to forecast.

Census 2022 gives us the information we need to implement government’s programme of action in a targeted, evidence-driven manner.

We encouraged by the progress in the report presented by the Statistician-General.

We note, for example, that the number of people older than 20 with no education has significantly decreased, where the number of people who now have grade 12 has more than doubled since 1996.

It is significant also that a large proportion of our children are now in early childhood development centres. We still have work to do to ensure all eligible children attend ECD centres.

The presentation shows that people’s housing circumstances have  improved, with almost 90 percent of South Africans now staying in formal housing.

Despite the present challenges of load shedding, which we are urgently addressing, we should be encouraged by the almost universal access to electricity supply.

The results that have been presented here today underscore the urgency with which we must work towards meeting the aspirations of the National Development Plan and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Census 2022 has told us where we are making progress, but it has also laid bare the challenges that remain.

Census 2022 will be an invaluable tool in meeting those challenges.

I salute the people of South Africa who participated in Census 2022. It is through the responses that they gave via the different platforms of enumeration that we are able to release these results today.

We thank the census enumerators for their hard work, as well as the members of the Statistics Council for their quality statement on the results that they have declared to be fit for use.

I congratulate the Statistician-General, Mr Risenga Maluleke and all the Stats SA teams for ensuring that we have a credible census.

Let me conclude by calling on government departments, policy makers, researchers, civil society organisations and international organisations to use this information abundantly as we collectively strive to improve people’s lives.

We now have the information we need to ensure that as we build this country, we leave no-one behind.

I thank you.