Stats SA to conduct first digital population count with Census 2022

Stats SA will conduct its first digital population count, Census 2022, from February to the end of March 2022. It says it will give respondents the option to complete the census questionnaire with or without the assistance of a fieldworker.

It will further allow respondents to access the census questionnaire remotely, enabling Stats SA to reach people in all areas.

South Africans are urged to confirm their citizenship next year. The Census Night will be on 2 February 2022, when fieldworkers will start collecting the data. A census is the total count of a population in a country.

Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke says on the night of the second, fieldworkers will start collecting data from the homeless and newborn babies.

“Starting from the 3rd of February all the way to the end of February we will be counting everyone who finds themselves within the boundaries of the Republic of South Africa and we will be coming out from the length and breadth of the country to make sure that we account for everyone that is in South Africa,” says Maluleke.

Stats SA to conduct its first digital population count Census 2022 in February 

Stats SA says the reason for a housing and population census is to assist government in planning better. In that way, it is better able to provide for its citizens’ needs.

“The population and housing census helps us to understand as a nation where South Africans live and play, where they are in terms of their different levels of age and population groups. This is the highest mobilisation of any nation in these times, it’s only when the nation knows how many people are within its borders and how many people require services that a nation can always plan better,” says Maluleke.

Stats SA says it has only conducted three censuses since 1994. The data collected during a census is used for planning, policy formulation and evidence-based decision-making.

The results of a census are also the basis for budget allocations across local, provincial and national government.