MEDIA STATEMENT                                                         11 FEBRUARY 2022

Stats SA reopens registration for online and telephonic enumeration

Stats SA today reopened online Census registration and has extended the period during which the web questionnaire can be completed. Household registrations increased significantly in the days preceding the original close of registration which coincided with the first week of enumeration. It appears that once households realised how quick and easy it is to complete the online Census form, word got around prompting the spike in registrations. There have been numerous requests to the call centre for us to reopen registration. Households can register on https://getcounted.statssa.gov.za/#!/home. Only one person needs to register on behalf of the household.

Online enumeration was due to close today, but will now be made available for an extended period to allow more households to capture their information. The online form can be completed on a computer or smart phone and is data free to the user. The form is simple to complete and will take about 10 – 45 minutes depending on the size of the household.

Census 2022 is South Africa’s first fully digital census and provides three alternative methods for households to participate. In addition to the self-completed web based form, fieldworkers can capture information on a tablet –  either over the phone or in a face to face interview.

The extended online registration period will give Stats SA the opportunity to resolve a number of logistical problems which are hampering fieldwork. Among these are the slow pace of fieldworker recruitment, delivery of vehicles and functionality of the tablet based data collection application.

Over 145 000 temporary contract staff, sourced from Stats SA’s recruitment database of over one million registrants, will be recruited to collect data from households. In order to be appointed, a contractor must attend minimum of four days of virtual training and pass an assessment, following which they must physically sign a contract. Administrative processes are being streamlined to reduce time for selection, verification and approval of appointments.

A few challenges were experienced with the data collection application; these are being attended to by Stats SA IT professionals together with engineers from our software partners to enable fully functional and scalable deployment of the application. Fieldwork will be limited during this period and contract staff that are on board will direct their efforts to confirming geographical information, publicity and refresher training.

This once-in-a-decade national exercise is the only available source of community-level data. Accurate census data is critical for planning at all levels of government and society. Stats SA calls on all within the borders of South Africa to do their civic duty and get counted.

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For media inquiries contact: Trevor Oosterwyk, Cell: 082 908 9104, Email: trevoro@statssa.gov.za