Tswelopele

Tswelopele Local Municipality is situated in the central Free State about a 100 km north west of Bloemfontein. It consists of Bultfontein, Phahameng, Hoopstad and Tikwana and their surrounding rural areas (http://www.tswelopele.gov.za/).read more »

---

Mangaung

Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is a Category A municipality. It is situated in the Free State province, in the central interior of South Africa.  The Free State is bordered by Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and North West provinces, as well as the neighbouring country of Lesotho.

Mangaung, meaning “the place of the cheetah”, accentuates the vibrant, dynamic and energetic character of the tourism industry in the “City on the move (at the heart of it all)”.  The economy is strongly driven by the government sector, which has seen the fastest growth in the last five years as a result of increased government programmes in livelihoods improvement interventions.  The finance sector is the second-fastest growing sector due to very active estate and construction activities. Small businesses have a major role to play in the Mangaung economy, in terms of employment creation, income generation and output growth.

Cities/Towns: Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, Mangaung, Thaba Nchu Main Economic Sectors: Government services, finance

read more »

---

Emthanjeni

Emthanjeni Local Municipality is a category B municipality consisting of three towns: De Aar, Britstown and Hanover. Emthanjeni, and especially De Aar, is renowned for its central location on the main railway line between Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Namibia. It is situated in the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality and is the seat of this district. Its location is approximately 300 km south-west of Kimberley, 440 km south-east of Upington, 300 km north-east of Beaufort-West and 300 km south-west of Bloemfontein. The land area comprises 11% of the district land area and 3% of the province. It represents approximately 23% of the district population.read more »

---

Kouga

Kouga Local Municipality is situated in the Cacadu District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province, on the south-eastern coast of South Africa. The major towns that fall within the municipality include Humansdorp, Jeffreys Bay and Hankey.read more »

---

Kou-Kamma

Kou-Kamma Local Municipality is situated in the Cacadu District Municipality alongside the coast of the Indian Ocean in the south-western area of the Eastern Cape province. Kou-Kamma spans 35 575 km2 and neighbours the Baviaans Local Municipality in the north, and the Kouga Local Municipality to the east.

read more »

---

Economic Growth

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.

Despite that, less than a decade into the 21st century, many countries, including South Africa, experienced the global economic crisis.This has affected economic growth in South Africa over the last four years, prompting a deceleration in rate of economic growth.

South Africa experienced an average growth rate of approximately 5 per cent in real terms between 2004 and 2007. However, the period 2008 to 2012 only recorded average growth just above 2 per cent; largely a result of the global economic recession.

Of the nine provinces in South Africa, three power houses stand out. Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal and Western Cape collectively contribute a significant portion to the country’s value added, reported at over 60 percent.

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 »

---