Stats SA reopens online census to encourage people to be counted

Stats SA field workers conducting Census 2022 registrations. Picture: African News Agency (ANA)

Stats SA field workers conducting Census 2022 registrations. Picture: African News Agency (ANA)

Published Apr 25, 2022

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Pretoria - Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has reopened the online self-enumeration process in a bid to ensure broader participation in the first digital population count.

The national statistical service announced that households that had not been counted in the 2022 Census earlier this year would have another opportunity to register and submit their information online.

The first-ever digital enumeration got under way on February 2, with the main phase of data collection coming to an end on March 20. More than 12 million households from an estimated 17.4 million households having been counted.

But due to data-collection challenges, particularly in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, which were heavily impacted by the recent extreme weather conditions, the agency said it had taken the decision to extend the census to the end of April.

Stats SA said all provinces would be able to take advantage of the extended period to ensure that they counted as many households as possible.

Project director Calvin Molongoana said Stats SA was calling on all households to ensure that they get counted in the 2022 Census, either online or by a fieldworker.

“The country’s socio-economic dynamics have changed considerably since the last census was conducted in 2011. The government and businesses need accurate information in order to plan, and the census is the only source of population and housing data at local-level.

“The more people who participate, the more accurate the data. So it is critical that every household participates in the census and ensures that they get counted,” Molongoana said.

He said Stats SA was appealing to all who lived within the borders of South Africa, irrespective of their status, to do the right thing and be counted.

Households were encouraged to visit the official Stats SA website and fill in their name, surname, and cellphone number, after which an OTP would be shared which will give them access to the census questionnaire.

Once the questionnaire is completed, households will get a reference number which they should keep in a safe place for when they are visited by a census fieldworker.

Pretoria News

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