MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                                             read more »

South Africa’s 257 municipalities spent a total of R88,6 billion in the quarter ended June 2018, 18% more than the R75,1 billion spent during the quarter ended March 2018. Municipal revenue was down, however, falling by 6% over the same period, from R87,6 billion (March quarter) to R82,6 billion (June quarter). Stats SA’s latest Quarterly financial statistics of municipalities   read more »

Where does provincial government get its funding from? South Africa’s nine provincial governments form the second tier of government, sandwiched between national government and local government. Among other functions, provincial governments play an important role in the administration of the country’s health and education systems. Provincial government departments sourced R519,4 billion in revenue in 2016/17,   read more »

According to the figures from the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey, released by Statistics South Africa, the total number of jobs reported in the second quarter showed a decrease of 69 000, bringing the total number of persons employed in the formal non-agricultural sector of South Africa to 9 748 000. Job losses were reported in the   read more »

It might sound like an anecdote from a reminiscing grandparent, that there was a time you could completely fill your petrol tank (45 litres) with just R270. Those good old days weren’t that long ago, actually. The price of inland 95-octane petrol fell to a low of R6,01 in January 2009 on the back of tumbling   read more »

Did you know that 90% of an estimated 59 million tonnes of general waste produced in South Africa in 2011 ended up in landfills, while only 10% was recycled?1 The rapid growth in solid waste and the fact that there is a shortage of suitable land to dispose of waste means that South Africa is   read more »

The South African economy slipped into recession during the second quarter of 2018, shrinking by 0,7% quarter-on-quarter (seasonally adjusted and annualised). This followed a revised 2,6% contraction in the first quarter of 2018. The widely recognised indicator of recession is two (or more) consecutive quarters of negative growth (real GDP quarter-on-quarter). South Africa experienced its   read more »

Three of South Africa’s eight metropolitan municipalities were headed by female mayors in 2017. Executive Mayors Zandile Gumede (eThekwini), Olly Mlamleli (Mangaung) and Patricia de Lille (Cape Town) collectively presided over a population of 8,7 million people, comprising 15% of South Africa’s total population.1 It’s not only these high-profile cities that have a woman in   read more »

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                                                                27 August 2018                                                                                     Recorded live births, 2017 The Recorded live births, 2017 report released by Statistics South Africa today shows that a total of   read more »

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 »