IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

Total turnover in the private sector increased by 1,6% in the quarter ended June 2015 compared with the quarter ended March 2015, according to Stats SA’s latest Quarterly financial statistics report. The electricity, mining, trade, manufacturing and transport sectors reported increases in turnover, while decreases were recorded for construction, community services (excluding government institutions) and   read more »

How are provincial governments using your tax money? Stats SA’s latest Financial Statistics of Provincial Government report describes the spending patterns of provincial government. Where do provinces get their money from? Mostly, from our tax contributions. Financial statements from 124 provincial government departments show that provincial governments sourced R429,9 billion in revenue in 2013/14. R415,7   read more »

The bucket toilet system remains a persistent phenomenon in seven of the nine provinces, despite measures to eradicate it. Where are bucket toilets still in use? And is South Africa succeeding in reducing its usage? Data from Stats SA’s latest Non-financial census of municipalities provides some insight into these questions. Eastern Cape boasts largest decrease   read more »

More basic services are being extended to municipalities’ constituencies, but fewer of these services are being provided for free.   This is according to the 2014 annual Non-financial census of municipalities report, which provides municipal data on various services (i.e. electricity, water, sewerage and sanitation, and solid waste management), details on indigents, and information on   read more »

Stats SA’s latest extra-budgetary accounts (EBA) statistical release contains economically and functionally classified financial data on 233 funds for the 2013/14 fiscal year. EBAs do not operate through normal parliamentary budgetary processes, but they perform an integral role in delivering services of the national government. Some examples of EBAs include the South African Revenue Service,   read more »

In an environment of low real economic growth, South African public-sector institutions continued to plough an increasing amount of capital expenditure into the economy in the financial year 2013/14. This is evident from the latest capital expenditure survey, which indicates that total capital expenditure by the public sector rose from R224,8 billion in 2012/13 to   read more »

Rural municipalities continue to rely heavily on national government to finance their budgets, according to data from the latest release of Stats SA’s Financial census of municipalities report. For every R1 of revenue received by municipalities in the year 2014, 33c was in the form of grants and subsidies from national and provincial government. The   read more »

Employee-related costs of municipalities rose from R61,2 billion in 2012/13 to R68,4 billion in 2013/14, an rise of 11,6%. This is one of the findings from the latest Financial census of municipalities report published by Stats SA. Metropolitan municipalities contributed 57,3% (R39 billion) of total municipal employee related costs in 2013/14. Local municipalities contributed 34,6%   read more »

Approximately 9% (or R101 billion) of total national government expenditure for the 2013/14 financial year was on interest on state debt. This is one of the findings from Stats SA’s latest Financial statistics of national government report. Using financial data from 41 government departments, the report measures national government spending, broken down by function (e.g.   read more »

South African households spent R91,6 billion on ICT products in 2012, contributing 4,6% of total household expenditure. This is one of the findings from the Information and Communication Technology satellite account for South Africa report, which provides an overview of the economic role of the ICT sector in South Africa, in terms of household expenditure,   read more »