In this file picture, a census enumerator goes door to door. pounds the pavements. StatsSA has now appointed a Census National Advisory Committee to help with preparations for the first digital census.
Johannesburg - Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) has appointed a Census National Advisory Committee to help with preparations for the first digital census.
The digital census will be conducted next October and StatsSA has already conducted a trial run to test its systems. The appointment of the committee, led by Nompumelelo Nzimande from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, is part of StatsSA’s plans to start educational and community mobilisation initiatives before the final Census 2021 pilot early next year. The census is typically conducted every five years, but because of a lack of capacity at StatsSA, it is done every 10 years.
The committee includes members from government departments such as Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Government Communications and Information System, among others. There are also representatives from the SA Post Office, South African Local Government Association and State Information Agency.
Statistician- General Risenga Maluleke said the committee would assist Stats SA by providing advice about the entire census undertaking, from the planning to implementation and dissemination.
Spokesperson Lesedi Dibakwane said the pilot, which was conducted between August and September, was meant to test remote data collection and allow respondents to participate from their homes.
“This would allow the organisation to test its ability to continue collecting data during the Covid-19 pandemic, and also to access hard-toreach populations. The trial was conducted through their mobile devices or through call-centre agents. We were able to register 26 000 households.”
Dibakwane said the trial had assisted Stats SA in identifying what worked best for data collection.
The Star