Plugging the skills gap one leak at a time
Recent news reports of sewage spills in the Vaal Dam have again raised concerns over South Africa’s water resources. In order to reduce the costs of maintaining the country’s water network, government has embarked on a programme to train unemployed youth with skills to patch up ageing infrastructure. An important tool to fight joblessness is read more »
Four facts about municipal debt
Eskom announced earlier this year that it would roll out power cuts to several defaulting municipalities.1 The inability of particular municipalities to honour debt payments has been a thorn in the flesh of local government administration. The following are a few key facts about municipal debt, from Statistics South Africa’s latest Financial census of municipalities read more »
Energy and the poor: a municipal breakdown
In April, government reaffirmed its commitment to renewable energy. The Department of Energy signed agreements with 27 independent power producers (IPPs), effectively unlocking R56 billion that will be invested in renewable energy projects across the country, predominantly in rural areas. Jeff Radebe, the Minister of Energy, outlined the importance of moving forward with renewable energy read more »
New version of SuperWEB2 is now available
“New version of SuperWEB2 is now available. The old SuperWEB2 will continue to work until Friday 16th March 2018. From the 16th of March only the new SuperWEB2 link will be accessible from Statistics South Africa website. SuperWeb2 is a web based version of SuperCROSS that enables users to create their own tables and view read more »
New Statistician-General and Head of Statistics South Africa is appointed
Media Statement 20 October 2017 New Statistician-General and Head of Statistics South Africa is appointed Minister in the Presidency, Mr Jeff Radebe, today announced the appointment of the new Statistician-General and Head of Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), Mr Risenga Maluleke. His appointment will take effect from the 1st of November 2017 read more »
Which municipalities spend the most per resident?
Turn on a tap. Switch on a light. Take a bus to work. Your daily life is filled with hundreds of small instances where you depend, in some form or another, on services that your city provides, be it running water, electricity or public transport. Which South African municipalities spend the most, per resident, on read more »
Women in power: what do the statistics say?
The message was clear: “We’ve had enough!” Regarded as one of the largest demonstrations at the time, more than 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 to protest against the apartheid government’s pass laws. This powerful statement of protest brought the struggle for women’s rights to the fore, and signified a read more »
The indigent net widens, but gaps remain
Stats SA’s most recent release of its Non-financial census of municipalities (NFCM)1 report shows an increase in the number of indigent households across the country. South Africa’s 278 municipalities registered 3,56 million indigent households in 2016, the highest number on record since figures were first published by Stats SA in 2004. To put it into read more »
Electricity: big business for municipalities
The recent power blackout in Msunduzi municipality again highlights the importance of electricity supply. Large parts of Pietermaritzburg were plunged into darkness for about a week when saboteurs, suspected to be striking workers, disrupted the city’s power grid2. It might be common knowledge that municipalities are involved in power distribution in South Africa, but many read more »