Cape Town - Stats SA has announced the resumption of face-to-face data collection for its Pilot Census that was interrupted when the country went into alert level 4 of the lockdown in June.
However, the organisation’s occupational health and safety (OHS) committee has yet to give clearance for the the resumption of fieldwork in the Western Cape and KZN, where data collection has been postponed to an unspecified later date.
At the time of writing Stats SA had not responded to queries about why the OHS committee had not cleared the two provinces.
As a result Stats SA will only deploy fieldworkers to visit previously sampled households in seven provinces to collect data between now and August 31.
Meanwhile, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said: “Fieldworkers are being deployed in line with adjusted lockdown level 3 as announced by the president.
“Conducting the Pilot Census is one of the crucial steps toward a full population count, and there needs to be a balance of carrying out the task while ensuring the safety of fieldworkers and respondents.”
He said the census would also collect information on socio-economic aspects of the country, such as employment and access to basic services.
“Participating in the Pilot Census will help with planning for the census. Stats SA urges all households to co-operate with our fieldworkers,” said Maluleke.
Stats SA said they were aware that criminals may try to take advantage of this project to conduct illegal activities, and said the fieldworkers would wear branded bibs, have Stats SA ID cards, and would have a letter introducing themselves and the survey.
Further verification can be accessed via the 0800 110 248 toll-free number or by telephoning the nearest provincial or district office.