Lorato Tshenkeng
Pretoria - Last week, while combing through social media in preparation for my weekly segment on SAfm, I observed an increase in negative sentiment on the national census.
Coincidentally, I had also heard a few talk radio listeners in the week objecting to being counted while some were indifferent.
Last Wednesday night on February 2, the country’s statistics agency, Stats SA launched Census 2022, kicking off by counting the homeless, people in hotels, B&Bs, hospitals, correctional centres, old age homes and other transient populations.
Led by Statistician General Risenga Maluleka and his team, Stats SA is delivering the fourth post-apartheid national census that will continue until March this year, with an army of 165 000 fieldworkers criss-crossing the country to count people within the borders of South Africa.
Through the census, Stats SA collects data for a variety of purposes such as: helping the government with planning; shaping and developing policy; ensuring fair distribution of government funds and services; and measuring the impact and effects of industrial development.
Most importantly, the statistics are used for monitoring the objectives of the National Development Plan, which is the government’s plan to deal with a number of challenges such as increasing employment, eliminating poverty and reducing inequality by 2030.
I want to believe that all my fellow compatriots understand why it is essential to participate in the census every 10 years. Digging deep into the general sentiment on why people opt out and choose not to be counted in this year’s census – it seems to be less about understanding – but more about grave concerns of misgovernance of our country.
Considering the deep levels of mistrust in our public institutions – it was good to observe that people who do not want to participate in the census did not question the credibility of Stats SA, its leadership, the integrity of the data or even the methodologies.
The most raised question was – what is the point of counting for planning purposes if the government has not resolved the challenge of porous borders?
Some of the other commonly cited concerns were: lack of belief in the government’s ability to use the data for its intended purposes; questioning the ability to collect data from the illegal immigrants within our borders; and whether the more than R3 billion to be spent on Census 2022 will be value for money.
Interestingly, it is not uncommon for citizens to distrust the census. Many other countries face the same challenge – albeit for different reasons.
Giving credence to these concerns is former statistician general, Dr Pali Lehohla’s unequivocal claims that our government does not know how to handle or interpret data provided by Stats SA on things like poverty, unemployment and economic growth.
Lehohla, who headed Stats SA for 17 years, has also accused the government of failing to use the data more effectively, resulting in policies not being as factually based as they are in more economically successful countries.
While these may be valid concerns, as citizens, we must ask ourselves – do government failures mean that we can opt out from our civic responsibilities as and when we wish, and what are the implications of allowing disillusionment to cloud our foresight?
Unfortunately, we cannot because every right comes with a responsibility to make difficult and uncomfortable choices for our benefit and that of society.
We have to accept that the cost of disillusionment is too high, therefore – despite our misgivings, we should willingly play our part and be counted in the Census 2022 – to ensure the government has the right kind of data for planning. The axiom that, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” rings true, including for government success.
The Gauteng Education Department’s infrastructure programme of opening a new school every month to address the demand for new spaces and rehabilitation of existing school infrastructure is a classic example on how we benefit from data-driven planning.
Not only is Gauteng the most populous province in South Africa, it is the most impacted by rapid urbanisation with grave ripple effects on many other needs, including energy, education, health etc.
Therefore, the successful execution of such programmes must inject a profound appreciation of the possibilities from data-driven and evidence-based planning.
Fellow South Africans, we have an obligation to set good examples for our children. We have the responsibility to demonstrate that we care about them and future generations by supporting any effort that is about better planning and execution. The job of rebuilding South Africa largely rests on our shoulders.
It is unreasonable for us to always whinge, expecting the government to do everything while we do not play our part. Let us open our homes to be counted – it is the responsible thing to do.
Pretoria News