Media Release                                                                            14 December 2021

Census 2022 remote data collection, a safety measure against Omicron as South Africa’s population count gets underway in 50 days

With 50 days remaining ahead of the nationwide population count, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) appeals to all communities to register for the remote online and telephonic data collection on their data free registration platform or through the Census 2022 toll-free contact centre, to ensure that everyone is counted during the census. Fieldworkers will visit households that register to be visited by a fieldworker, those who don’t complete the online questionnaire as well as those that did not register. Respondents should register on getcounted.statssa.gov.za or by contacting the call centre on 0800 110 248.

Scheduled to be conducted from 3 to 28 February next year, the department is still recruiting candidates for the available contract work opportunities across the country. Recruitment is conducted online by registering on the Stats SA recruitment database that closes later this month on 31 December. Candidates can go to www.statssa.gov.za/hr for more information. The online approach to recruitment ensures that fieldworkers are assigned to work within their areas of residence.

“Conducting a census is the largest undertaking for Stats SA and we have to ensure that all communities are counted by providing platforms to participate in an environment that is safe for both our respondents and data collectors. We will deploy over 165 000 fieldworkers to collect data for the fourth population count since the dawn of democracy, Census 2022. It has been challenging to arrive at this point following the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted our plans for Census 2021, leading to delaying the census to February next year.” said Statistician-General, Risenga Maluleke.

Coined the first-ever digital census in the country, Census 2022 will use digital devices to capture data in real-time for reduced turnaround time to release the much-needed results as they outline the profile of South Africa’s population and their living conditions.

“Census 2022 has been the most challenging population count that we have encountered in the history of our census-taking post-democracy. We introduced the new methods of data collection, tested them in the midst of alternating COVID -19 alert levels to which we had to align by adjusting our methodologies from time to time. The journey started in 2018 and we will arrive at our destination in the coming 50 Days” said Census 2022 Project Director, Calvin Molongoana.

Census data is used for planning and evidence-based decision-making by various sectors of society. It is the basis for budget allocations across national, provincial and local government. Budget allocations are based on population numbers in as far as service delivery and provision of basic services to communities is concerned. It is therefore crucial that everyone is counted to ensure that there are no errors or omissions in the population count.

Ends…..

Issued by Statistics South Africa

For media enquiries contact:

Ms. Lesedi Dibakwane, Cell: 082 805 7088, Email: lesedid@statssa.gov.za