The answer might surprise you. Stats SA’s recently released Financial census of municipalities report, for 2016, provides in-depth detail on the financial state of South Africa’s municipalities, including levels of debt. How solvent are South African municipalities? To answer that question, we turn to a financial ratio called the debt ratio. The debt ratio is   read more »

With South Africa formally in recession and hoping for some good news, the latest employment figures released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) holds no reprieve. According to the March 2017 Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), an estimated 9 644 000 persons were employed in the formal non-agricultural sector of the South African economy. This reflected   read more »

In this month of June, South Africans commemorate the 1976 June 16 uprising when more than 15 000 students in Soweto took to the streets to march against the Bantu education policies. Every year, June 16 is National Youth Day and is declared a public holiday. Although the youth of 1976 fought against unequal education   read more »

Recent service delivery protests have shifted the spotlight onto local government’s ability to provide vital services to the communities they manage. Are municipalities properly staffed to handle the complexities of service delivery? Stats SA provides a profile of the municipal workforce, shedding light on staff shortages in key departments. Explore municipal vacancies, and other stories,   read more »

The South African economy moved into recession with the reported decrease of 0,7% in GDP during the first quarter of 2017, following a 0,3% contraction in the fourth quarter of 2016. Using the widely accepted measure of ‘recession’ as two (or more) consecutive quarters of negative growth (real GDP quarter-on-quarter), this means that South Africa   read more »

Home robbery and housebreaking are among the most frightening and dangerous crimes to experience. It is frightening because it violates our private space and the one place that we think of as our sanctuary. What do the latest statistics tell us about home robberies and housebreaking in South Africa? According to the latest report released   read more »

MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                                                                                          26 May 2017 Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter (Q1) of 2017   read more »

It might be surprising to learn that the ICT sector is larger than the agriculture industry. This is one of the findings from Stats SA’s latest Information and communication technology satellite account for South Africa report. The document covers ICT’s contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP), its role in imports and exports, and its   read more »

The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) Q1:2017 scheduled to be released on Tuesday, 9 May 2017 has been postponed to the 1st June 2017. The processing of data has taken longer than anticipated. Statistics South Africa would like to apologise for the inconveniences caused. Issued by Statistics South Africa For media enquiries Ms Lesedi Dibakwane   read more »

Kathu has a story to tell. Located in the rural expanse of the Northern Cape, this small town owes its existence almost entirely to iron ore. The streets, the businesses that line them, and the eleven thousand people that call Kathu home, all draw their economic lifeblood from Sishen, one of the largest open-pit mines   read more »