Stats SA does a noble job

A few days ago Stats SA released the results of the 2011 census survey and the numbers were not much of a surprise. At 51,7 million people living in South Africa today, this is a 25% increase compared to the previous census of 2001. What is absolutely remarkable however, is that when one looks at the 2011 Mid-Year population estimates by Stats SA, that figure of 50,1 million was just over 3% shy of the 2011 census figure of 51,7 million.

This remarkably small margin of difference between the estimate and the census figures bears testament to the brilliant work that Stats SA is doing, it shows that the methods are used to estimate South Arica’s population between each census, are sound and can be relied upon. Even more remarkable is that Stats SA has the wherewithal to actually track South Africa’s population dynamics, period. South Africa is indeed one of the few countries in the developing world, let alone in Africa, which has access to such rich information about its population. Thanks in large part to the skills of those who run Stats SA.

To be sure, a census is but a scientific estimate of our country’s populations but thank goodness Stats SA exists to do this very valuable and noble task.