As the government bails out state-owned entities, it is leaving a hole in the budget of the agency tasked with telling us what South Africa looks like — one that is crucial to government decisions.
Without numbers, you cannot run a country. This is how the former statistician-general of Statistics South Africa , Pali Lehohla, views the country’s prospects if the organisation cannot be adequately funded.
, Risenga Maluleke, the current statistician general, said that Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu agrees that there will be serious problems if the funding squeeze continues. Former statistician general Lehohla knows the consequences of producing statistics with a considerably reduced budget. He told thethat back in 2003, a few years into his tenure, Stats SA was experiencing budget cuts and this had a direct effect on the quality of statistics produced — and the pockets of many pensioners.
Through the census, which is the biggest undertaking by the organisation, Stats SA must map out the entire country by collecting information from all households. As Stats SA notes on its website: “For many people, the census may be the only time that the state reaches them and asks them a question.” The poverty statistics are essential to monitoring the objectives of the National Development Plan, which is the backbone of the government’s plan to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030.
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