IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

This release provides information on the number, nationality, types of permits, category statuses and the age structure of the recipients of the 2012 temporary and permanent residence permits. The data come from the permit administrative system maintained by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). The results from the release contribute to information regarding the number and characteristics of documented immigrants in South Africa. Statistics South Africa processed data on 142 833 foreign nationals whose permits applications were approved in 2012. There were 141 550 temporary residence permits and 1 283 permanent residence permits.

Ten types of permits were issued to the 141 550 recipients: visitors (44 828); relatives (37 614); work (33 253); study (20 087); medical (1 870); business (1 585); waiver (1 068); retired persons (978); treaty (206) and exchange permits (61). The first four made up 96,0% of the 141 550 TRP. The recipients were mainly young adults with a median age of 31 years; about half of them were in the 20 to 34 age group;  11,8% were children aged below 15 years; 85,4% were in the 15 to 64 age group while 2,8% were older persons aged 65 years and above.
The recipients came from several countries in the world, but nationals from the eight leading countries received 55,5% of the permits. These countries are: Zimbabwe, Nigeria, India, China, Pakistan, UK, DRC and Lesotho. There were more recipients from the Africa region (54,5%) than from the overseas region (45,5%). Most recipients came from the SADC (32,7%) and Asia (25,6%) sub-regions. The age structure indicates that the overseas recipients were older than those from Africa. The median age of overseas recipients was 32 years and that of recipients from Africa was 31 years. 

The 1 283 permanent residence permits were issued based on these five category statuses: relatives (640); work (441); business and finance (94); retired persons