Stats SA sets plans in motion for Census 2011
October 11, 2009
By Pali Lehohla
At the core, Stats SA has set in motion the operational plans and processes that will culminate in Census 2011, a national priority and the third under the democratic administration.
This is a massive logistical exercise that dwarfs all other nationwide mobilisation. In fact a census is deemed the largest mobilisation in times of peace. Even war is dwarfed by a census.
Elections do not come close to what gets mobilised in a census.
A common questionnaire is taken across the length and breadth of the country and then all the answers must come back to a processing centre in Pretoria.
Accuracy and extensive enumeration coverage is the backbone of a credible census. Almost 25 million questionnaires of 12 pages each will make their journey out of the offices in Pretoria and back to the data-processing hub after they have traversed the country.
But of immediate concern is the scheduled indaba on the "state of measurement and measuring the state".
This seminal gathering will look at various social aspects including a strategy for social statistics in South Africa.
On the menu will be the development of a poverty line, deaths and causes of death, vital statistics, the health status of the people of the country, and the South African labour market situation.
The development of a poverty line should provide heated but much needed dialogue on the issue without falling into the trap of politicising poverty.
As a statistical agency, a poverty line is a measurement issue.
This critical period also result in Stats SA leading the statistical content for the co-ordination of the Millennium Development Goals Report in South Africa, where the latest round of international country reporting is due.
A UN Country Team, which includes Stats SA, has been helping to prepare national reports that measure progress towards shedding light on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
The emphasis is on national ownership, as well as accurate benchmarking of progress, so wherever possible these are done in close collaboration with the government as well as civil society groups.
And a consultation process is under way to get all organs of civil society - labour federations, non-governmental organisations and academic institutions - on board.
Stats SA has been strategically tasked with the co-ordination of the MDG process for the country.
These two processes fit together very well in the pursuit of quality data to inform the system of indicators and provision of appropriate data for the indicators.
The work programme takes into clear account the developments that have taken place in the country, which have seen the creation of two significant entities, namely the planning commission and monitoring and evaluation competency.
Both these entities are already, and will increasingly be, information thirsty.
The green paper on national strategic planning argues correctly that: "We need a clear mechanism for weighing options and making hard choices in the context of fiscal limitations and where policies are contested."
The discussion document Improving Government Performance: Our Approach argues correctly that we need to "be completely transparent with each other. We must claim no easy victories, just tell the truth and build on what we have achieved".
These statements remain simply words in the absence of sound data and statistics, a task that Stats SA has to perform to under-gird these important commitments.
At Stats SA, therefore, we are greatly charged and pride ourselves on being part of this daunting process that deals with the long-term transition required to measure in a society that strives for prosperity.
The green paper on national strategic planning sets out the institutional framework for planning.
The discussion document for monitoring and evaluation outlines what will be measured. As evidence-based policy making is gaining momentum, Stats SA measurement indicators will be vital for this process.
Pali Lehohla is the statistician-general at Stats SA
|
|
