IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

There is so much need but not enough money. Often faced with hard decisions on where to allocate scarce resources, governments usually have their own unique spending priorities. The South African government spent R2 187 billion (or R2,19 trillion) in the 2021/2022 fiscal year. This was R83 billion more than the R2 104 billion recorded in 2020/2021. Stats SA’s Financial statistics   read more »

Live birth statistics provide a crucial glimpse into the dynamics of human populations, offering valuable insights into demographics, healthcare trends, and societal changes. Understanding live birth statistics is not merely an exercise in number-crunching; it is a gateway to comprehending the health and wellbeing of populations. The data on Recorded Live Births indicates that the   read more »

After two consecutive quarters of growth, South African real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0,2% in the third quarter (July–September) of 2023.1 The contributions to the performance of the economy were evenly spread between the industries on the production side of the economy. The contributions ranged from -0,3 of a percentage point to +0,1   read more »

Millions of people’s livelihoods, jobs, and health were in jeopardy because of the health crisis caused by COVID-19.  The global economic crisis that emerged was a result of the impact of COVID-19. The impact of the pandemic and the related containment measures led to a severe contraction in economic activity as many people were unable   read more »

Access to government services is a cornerstone of any well-functioning society. In the realm of governance, the relationship between access to government services, levels of trust in government and public institutions, and individual experiences of corruption significantly impacts the overall well-being of a society. These factors are integral to the effectiveness and legitimacy of a   read more »

After five consecutive years of decline, capital expenditure in the public sector increased by R9,3 billion (4,6%), from R199,8 billion in 2021 to R209,1 billion in 2022. Extra-budgetary accounts and funds, national government, public corporations, provincial government and higher education institutions all recorded increases. However, there was a decline for local government, according to Stats SA’s Capital expenditure   read more »

Although the mining industry strengthened company tax collections after the COVID-19 pandemic, its momentum has recently waned. The importance of CIT Company income tax (CIT) was the third largest source of government tax revenue in 2021/22, according to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).1 Personal income tax was the largest contributor (35,5%), followed by value-added   read more »

As Women’s Month draws to a close, recent data provides a snapshot of gender representation in local government. In 2021, South Africa’s municipal workforce numbered 282 286 individuals. Of these, 13 492 were senior-level posts, which include directors and managers.1 Women occupied 5 312 (or 39%) of these senior-level positions, according to Stats SA’s latest Non-financial census of   read more »

A wide range of indicators inform municipal financial health. In 2014, National Treasury published a uniform set of financial norms and ratios for local government.1 Stats SA recently published data that can be used to inform these norms. In the examples below, we explore how municipalities fare in terms of remuneration and contracted services. Paying   read more »

One of the important tasks of national government is to redistribute funds, mainly received from taxes, to other sectors of the economy. These transfers serve a financial lifeline to diverse groups which includes households, public corporations, local and international organisations, and other levels of government. Key areas of spending On the revenue side, national government   read more »