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- Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said the low turnout of Western Cape households in the census was not yet cause for panic.
- He said government was assessing the census outcomes in the province, where only 70% of households participated.
- Gungubele said government would await the completion of the process, quality assurance and profiles of those who responded.
Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said the government was still assessing the outcomes of South Africa's national census in the Western Cape to see if the results are in line with international standards.
This comes after only 70% of Western Cape households responded to and participated in the national census of 2022, despite Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) introducing online and mobile platforms for households to provide feedback.
Low participation in the national census at any level presents a major challenge to the government where it relates to the allocation of budgetary resources at a provincial level for the purposes of service delivery.
On Wednesday, the Statistics Council warned that the low participation in the census in the Western Cape threatened to undermine the integrity of the 2022 census ad will affect national budget allocations to the province and municipalities and district councils.
Gungubele told reporters in a post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday morning that government would assess the outcomes comprehensively.
"The series of experts will still be used to test the process and see if it missed international standards. After all of that is done, we will be able to make a determination on what needs to be done," said Gungubele.
READ | SA's unemployment stats could be wrong, say experts
Gungubele maintained that the low participation by Western Cape households was being taken seriously by Stats SA and the government but said the government would not jump the gun on the implications of the turnout.
"I think we did express as we gave the interim report how the census ensued and reflected on the Western Cape. We will await the completion of the process, quality assurance and profiles of those who responded. Let's allow that process to go because the council must still do oversight," he said.
Stats SA is putting out fires on multiple fronts, as economists have also come out to suggest that there is a possibility that the unemployment data in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the fourth quarter of last year could be incorrect.
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