Mbalo Brief – July 2014
“A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of”. These are the words of South Africa’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Rolihlahla ‘Madiba’ Mandela during an address delivered at Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto in read more »
Formal sector shows marginal growth in employment
Between December 2013 and March 2014, the non-agriculture formal sector of the South African economy experienced a net increase of 9 000 employees (+0,1%), from 8 498 000 to 8 507 000 individuals. This increase was mainly due to increases in the community, social and personal services industry which gained 50 000 employees (+2,1%); the finance industry (+7 000 or +0,4%); and read more »
National government spending breaks the R1 trillion mark
The South African national government expenditure surpassed R1 trillion in the 2012/13 fiscal year, almost double the R567 billion spent in 2007/08. This was a finding from Stats SA’s Financial Statistics of National Government report, an annual release containing details of national government spending. Exploring expenditure trends over the last six years, the report shows read more »
Quarterly Employment Statistics, March 2014
Key findings on employment and earnings for the quarter ended March 2014 The number of employees in the formal non-agricultural sector of the South African economy increased from an estimated 8 498 000 employees in December 2013 to an estimated 8 507 000 employees in March 2014. Statistics South Africa released the results of the read more »
Life is somewhat better in the country
More people rely on state coffers as the percentage of individuals that benefited from social grants has increased from 12,7% in 2003 to 30,2% in 2013, and the percentage of households that received at least one grant increased from 29,9% to 45,5%. This is according to the latest results of the General Household Survey (GHS) read more »
Households experience increased access to piped water, but are less satisfied with the service
Although the number and percentage of households in South Africa with access to piped water has increased steadily over the last decade, household satisfaction with the quality of water services has decreased. This is one of the findings from the latest release of Stats SA’s General Household Survey (GHS). Conducted on an annual basis since read more »
Media Advisory: General Household Survey (GHS) 2013
6 June 2014 General Household Survey (GHS) 2013 Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) will release the results of the General Household Survey (GHS) 2013, which will outline findings on multiple facets of the living conditions of South African households, as well as the quality of service delivery in a number of key service sectors. The read more »
National and provincial labour market: Youth Q1: 2008 to Q1: 2014
The unemployment rate among youth increased from 32,7% to 36,1% between 2008 and 2014; in the post recessionary period, the unemployment rate has been consistently higher among youth than among adults by more than 20 percentage points. The report released by Statistics South Africa examines in detail various aspects of the situation faced by youth read more »
Mbalo Brief – May 2014
It has only been five months into 2014, yet a lot has already happened. Just recently, on 7 May 2014, many South Africans went out in their numbers to vote in the fifth general election since the dawn of democracy. The African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer missions congratulated South Africa read more »
Inflation at 6%, hitting the ceiling of the SARB inflation target range
Hitting the ceiling of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) inflation target range, the CPI comes in at 6% this month, with a 1,3% monthly increase. The monthly increase is the largest since June 2008 (1,4%). The monthly increase has been steadily increasing since a low of 0,1% in November 2013. Food and non-alcoholic beverages read more »