STATS SA: IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS
THE LARGEST MOBILISATION OF A COUNTRY DURING PEACE TIMES, DURING DIGITAL TIMES
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tatistics South Africa (Stats SA), being at the forefront of producing official data, has conducted 3 population counts since the dawn of democracy. The three censuses conducted in 1996, 2001 and 2011 provided lessons to be learnt as well as a foundation for planning, but never a predictor of challenges to be encountered in the subsequent population counts. Conducting a census is a massive undertaking for any statistical organisation the world over, and is thus characterised by rigorous testing to ensure that the entire population in a country is counted. In preparation for the 2020 round of population and housing censuses, Stats SA conducted the New Methodologies Test in 2018, where new modes of data collection were tested in select settlements. In 2019, the first phase of the Census 2021 Mini-Test was conducted and the second phase was conducted in early 2020. During the Census 2021 Mini-Test, a multimodal approach to data collection was tested, namely: Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI): Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI); and ComputerAssisted Telephonic Interview (CATI). The Census 2021 Trial was conducted in the latter part of 2020 and the approach to CAWI and CATI modes were revisited to identify gaps and realign systems to be ready for remote census taking where required.
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Municipal Focus
COVID-19 has impacted on census planning across the world, and South Africa is no exception. The pandemic has affected countries globally and many countries have either delayed some census activities or postponed it. The census deploys massive human resources in the form of fieldworkers who update the geography frame, conduct publicity to mobilise communities and collect data. Establishing an accurate geography frame is essential for supporting a variety of census operations, including setting enumerator assignments, ensuring completeness of coverage, estimating travel time and costs, and establishing field offices. Updating the geography frame was largely impacted by the pandemic, hence the registration of housing structures online remains open; however, this process still requires fieldwork that involves engaging the public on site. To minimise the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus among Stats SA field workers and respondents, these census activities as well as enumeration for the Pilot Census had to be put on hold and resumed in line with the country’s alert levels at the time. The Pilot Census was recently conducted and all modes of data collection were used as a dress rehearsal for the main population count scheduled for next year. The traditional pen and paper method of data collection was replaced with the
