Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) aims to bring more easy to understand statistics to the people of South Africa in 2017 and beyond. This was shown through the commitment by Stats SA to host the first ever United Nations World Data Forum. The forum was held on 15 to 18 January 2017 at the International Convention Centre in Cape Town. The UN World Data Forum was initiated after the realisation that most countries have huge sources of data that can be useful, but the data are often poorly coordinated, difficult to access and not simple to analyse.

The forum provided a platform for policy-level discussions with the aim of producing usable data to ensure progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In order to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, topics such as understanding the world through data, data visualisation, literacy and journalism, and also how civil society groups are using data to talk to governments about citizens’ experiences and priorities, were discussed at the forum.

We hope our renewed commitment as Stats SA to provide you with statistics that is easy to understand and relevant will encourage you to read more of our publications.

In this month’s issue of Mbalo Brief, our educational article is based on the Community Survey 2016 results with a focus on agricultural households. Also have a look at our monthly crossword puzzle and solutions for the November 2016 puzzle.

Articles published in this issue are based on results of industry surveys conducted for the months ranging from October to December 2016 which were published by Stats SA in January and February 2017.

Download: Mbalo Brief – February 2017

For more details on any of the surveys, visit our website at: www.statssa.gov.za