Modimolle

Modimolle Local Municipality is named after the Modimolle mountain. The word Modimolle literally means "the forefather's spirit has eaten" (Modimo o lle). According to tradition, it often happened that someone would climb the mountain, only to disappear without a trace.

 The original name was Nylstroom, named so after the Voortrekkers had come across the north-flowing river and mistook it for the Nile River in Egypt. The fact that there is a pyramid-shaped hill close by only served to strengthen this misconception.

Modimolle, Limpopo, South Africa is a charming town with an expanding business sector which serves as the commercial centre of the Waterberg. Nylstroom (Modimolle) is famous for its export of grapes and other soft fruits like peaches and watermelons.

read more »

---

//Khara Hais

//Khara Hais Local Municipality is a Category B municipality and is located in the Siyanda District Municipality, which is the second-largest district in the Northern Cape. It is the acknowledged commercial, educational, military, agricultural, medical, transport and tourist center of the area. The unusual spelling of the name of the local municipality, with the // glyph, is a result of the transcription of the click consonant used in the Kxoe language from which the name originates.

The municipality straddles the Orange River. The main towns in this area are Upington, Raaswater, Louisvale, Kalksloot, Leerkrans, Karos and Lambrechtsdrift. Upington is the central town situated 400km west of Kimberley. Upington has an airport and a landing strip. This town plays a very prominent role in the lives of the residents of this local municipality. Upington was established in the 1870s when the Reverend Christiaan Schroder was sent from Cape Town to establish a mission at the request of the Hottentots chieftain Klaas Lucas, who realized the importance of being able to read and write. Shortly after the establishment of the Mission, various pioneer settlers including Japie Lutz and the Reverend Schroder realized that the area was ideal for irrigation development and the first irrigation canals were hand-dug in 1880 - some of which are still in use today. Since then, Upington grew rapidly today, Upington is the Provincial Capital for the Northern Cape Province and as such has taken on a new and important role in the development of the whole region.

read more »

---

Umhlabuyalingana

uMhlabuyalingana Local Municipalityi s one of five municipalitiesthat fall within uMkhanyakude District Municipality.  uMhlabuyalingana is located in the far northern part of KwaZulu-Natal, sharing its northern border with the country of Mozambique.

The municipality is deeply rural, with almost its entire population living in traditional authority areas. Several nature reserves are located within the municipality, including the Isimangaliso Wetland Park which is a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia).

read more »

---

Maphumulo

Maphumulo is situated on the R74 Road from Stanger to Kranskop.The Maphumulo Local Municipality is classified as a Category B Municipality according to the Municipal Structures, 1998 (Act No. 117 of 1998). It comprises of mostly rural areas governed by Traditional Authorities. Maphumulo Municipality possesses a lot of untapped cultural/eco-tourism potential due its cultural background and natural heritage. It boasts tourist such natural attractions as Kwa-Shushu Hot Springs, ItshelikaNtunjambili and Sabuyaze Mountain amongst others. From both a historical and cultural perspective, IzibayazikaGcugcwa and the world famous battlefields of the Bambatha Rebellion serve as a good attraction for the area.read more »

---

Blouberg

This municipality is in Limpopo and was originally established in the year 2000 after the amalgamation of the Bochum-My-Darling, Alldays-Buysdorp, and parts of Moletjie-Matlala TLCs. It is situated in the North western boundary of the Republic of South Africa with Botswana and Zimbabwe where the Limpopo River serves as the border between the municipality, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It is largely a rural municipality with 99,8% of the settlement being tribal or traditional and it is situated 95 km from Polokwane and has 21 wards.

read more »

---

National Accounts

The diverse structure of the South African economy is a critical aspect of its historical and current growth performance. The manufacturing sector continues to occupy a significant share of the South Africa economy, despite its relative importance declining from 19 percent in 1993 to about 17 percent in 2012 in real terms. In line with structural changes in many economies, it not surprising to observe that the finance, real estate and business services sector has increase its relative importance of 17 per cent in 1993 to approximately 24 per cent in 2012. These two sectors and a few more are an important part of the South African growth story since the dawn of democracy.read more »

---

Inflation

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) are the two primary measures of inflation for South Africa. Both indicators are published on a monthly basis.The Consumer Price Index tracks the rate of change in the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers. The headline CPI is used as the inflation target measure which guides the South African Reserve Bank on the setting of interest rates.

The Producer Price Index tracks the rate of change in the prices charged by producers of goods. Stats SA publishes PPIs for different industries with the PPI for final manufactured goods being the headline PPI. Additional PPIs are compiled for Agriculture, forestry and fishing; Mining and quarrying; Electricity and water; Intermediate manufactured goods; Imports and Exports; and Construction.

The PPI is widely used by businesses as a contract escalator and as a general indicator of inflationary pressures in the economy.

read more »

---

Agricultural Statistics

The history of agricultural statistics in South Africa goes back as far back as the beginning of the 20th century. With the exception of the World Wars and great depression years, an agricultural census was conducted on annual basis in the first half of the 20th century. As agriculture’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) decreased over the years, so did the frequency of conducting agricultural censuses. Post 1994, agricultural censuses have been conducted on a five yearly basis, with annual surveys being conducted in between the census years. Until now, agricultural censuses and surveys have largely concentrated on commercial agriculture leaving out small-scale and subsistence agriculture. In 2009, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) conducted an audit of agricultural statistics in the country. One of the findings was that the country lacked information on smallholder and subsistence agriculture. The current list of farmers being used to conduct surveys was mainly confined to commercial agriculture. A decision was taken that three questions related to agriculture would be included in the Population Census 2011 (Census 2011) questionnaire. The main objective was to identify all households involved in agriculture in the country, so that a complete frame of all individuals and entities involved in agriculture (both subsistence and commercial) could be generated. This will allow for a comprehensive agricultural census to be conducted.read more »

---

Poverty

Poverty is a key development challenge in social, economic and political terms; not only in South Africa but throughout the developing world. In post-apartheid South Africa, fighting the legacy of poverty and under-development has always been a central theme of Government. This was cemented in the Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP) of 1994 and reiterated in the National Development Plan (NDP) published in 2011.

The guiding objectives of the NDP is the elimination of poverty and the reduction in inequality and all the elements of the plan must demonstrate their effect on these two objectives. The Living Conditions Survey (LCS) and the Income and Expenditure Survey (IES) conducted by Stats SA are the two primary contributors toward profiling and monitoring poverty and inequality over time.

These two surveys are fundamental components to the survey programme of any statistical agency. They are the leading tools for the measurement of absolute poverty and inequality and they are an extremely important building block for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to stay current with the changing spending and consumption patterns of the country.

read more »

---

Household Service Delivery Statistics

The dawn of democracy in 1994 created a new dispensation in which access to basic services such as housing, water and sanitation was recognized as a fundamental human right. South Africa inherited high levels of poverty and it continues to be confronted with unequal and often inadequate access to resources, infrastructure and social services. The Bill of Rights enshrined the right to basic services and commanded that the state must take reasonable measures to achieve the progressive realisation of these rights. Faced by inadequate information about the state of development in South Africa, Statistics South Africa (then called the Central Statistical Service) launched the October Household Survey (OHS) programme in 1993. The survey was discontinued in 1999 and subsequently replaced by the General Household Survey (GHS) which was instituted in 2002 in order to determine the level of development in the country and the performance of programs and projects on a regular basis. The GHS continues to evolve and key questions are continuously added and/or modified in consultation with key stakeholders to maintain the relevance and quality of data. In addition to measuring access to key services, the level of satisfaction with, as well as perceived quality of selected services provided by Government are also measured.read more »

---