Mr Speaker, distinguished colleagues, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, may I just say that I see only the hon Singh being bold enough to match my tie today! [Laughter.]
Census 2011, that now-once-in-a-decade event, is upon us. The countdown has begun in earnest - Census 2011 is a mere 20 days away. Statistics SA has made all the necessary preparations. Some 156 000 enumerators, co- ordinators and supervisors have been recruited and trained. These fieldworkers have gone out, armed with clipboards, to list every dwelling in the country. Questionnaires have been prepared, printed and distributed along with other census materials. One hundred and thirty offices have been rented and equipped and 6 000 vehicles hired. Advertisements have been placed and pilots and dress rehearsals have been conducted.
The preparations already completed speak to the scale of the operation - the largest deployment of people in peacetime in our country; bigger than any election ever convened.
Yet, as we enter these final days, there remains a foreboding sense that swirls around the question: What risks remain? Perhaps the greatest risk is that people do not voluntarily participate in being counted - that they shut the doors, let the dogs out and turn the lights out when the enumerators approach. Actually, the only reason people might respond in this manner is that we haven't taken the time to allay their fears and to explain to them that participation in the census, apart from being a statutory obligation, is directly and unashamedly in their own best interests.
The "we" who need to do the explaining and who haven't yet made the time for the face-to-face contact are the 400 hon members of this House, the 90 hon members of the NCOP, the 430 members of the nine provincial legislatures and the 10 055 councillors who sit in the 243 municipalities across the length of our country. The "we" includes all of us as public representatives, regardless of the political parties we are part of. Census 2011 will only succeed if we communicate it as a national, all-inclusive endeavour.
As public representatives, we have the most to benefit from a census that is successfully run because the data obtained from the census are the vital tools we need to be proper public representatives. As we gather, the tools at our disposal are fairly blunt now. The last census was conducted in 2001 and, in the intervening period, Statistics SA has conducted a myriad surveys. Granted, some of these have been large, like the community survey, which was conducted in October 2007 and involved 345 170 households across the country.
The information gained from these surveys is important, but none of these can ever replace the trove of information that we will uncover in a full-on census that takes in every single household. Good workers, such as we aim to be in the service of our people, need the best and sharpest tools, and there is simply no other way to acquire this than through conducting a detailed census.
We have estimated that there are 14,5 million households, but have printed 20 million questionnaires, just in case. Each questionnaire is 14 pages long and contains 75 questions.
As we progress with our democracy, the need for evidence-based decision- making grows, and this evidence-based decision-making requires very high levels of detail. It is required at the national level, including the Financial and Fiscal Commission, FFC, analysis of provincial populations and levels of income. Provinces are responsible for providing the first level of pro-poor services such as basic education, health, social services and human settlements, and they need to have this level of detailed information.
Municipalities need this information. In light of the report by the Treasury last week on local government budgets and expenditure, it is important that we understand our responsibility to enable municipalities to fulfil their constitutional mandate. This information is vital for municipalities to improve on the quality of the services that they render.
Democracy anywhere needs census results; democracy in South Africa definitely needs a successful census to produce results that will make a difference.
Let me share with you a few observations about the constituency that I serve in Mitchells Plain. It is a large area which, in the 2001 census, had 398 650 people living in it. We approximate that, currently, we have about 512 000 people there, but we need an accurate number. A population of 512 000 is larger than that of many small island states. It is a large number of people and requires accuracy in decision-making.
The area has been divided into 395 enumerator areas by Statistics SA, each comprising about 120 to 150 households. Statistics SA has recruited 395 enumerators from Mitchells Plain to visit the households. This is an important step because these enumerators know the area, speak the same languages as the people in the area, and should be trusted. If there are any queries, residents should check the enumerator's Statistics SA census ID card and call the toll-free number 0800 110 248 to confirm that the person knocking at their door is indeed an enumerator from Statistics SA. In addition, Statistics SA has hired the services in that area of 101 supervisors, including people such as Mrs Faith Benjamin, Mr Daniel Muller and Ms Sheena Arendse, to ensure the success of the count.
As the Member of Parliament for that area, my interest in the census lies in knowing that we have information to evaluate around whether the community is adequately serviced. How many people actually reside there? What is the age and gender distribution of the population? Is there an adequate number of schools? What percentage of people work? To what extent is youth unemployment a problem? I can then establish whether additional libraries might be required, or whether there is a legitimate demand for an FET college that I can badger Minister Nzimande about. I can establish the adequacy of health facilities.
Information about the consumption of water and electricity will be important. Does the municipality meet the legal requirements to provide free basic services? The municipality needs to use the same data to establish whether it adequately provides for sport and recreation or for those services we do not like to discuss, such as refuse and sewage disposal. This is the kind of information I need to move me from guesswork to facts, so that I can be a better representative of the community I serve.
And I daresay that each one of us - whether in Houghton or Moletjie, in Cofimvaba or in Kloof, in Manenberg or in Mahikeng - needs the same detail of information about the constituency we serve. The only way to secure that level of detail is to know that the risks have been attended to. We need the involvement of every public representative in the process of Census 2011. And by involvement, we are not asking MPs to undertake the counting - heaven forbid that, Mr Speaker; we battle to count a quorum in this House on some days! - but we need the involvement of MPs to give assurance to residents, to give encouragement to the enumerators, and to help problem-solve in hard-to-count areas such as gated communities and densely packed informal settlements. It is also very, very important that public representatives can give assurances to constituents who may have fears because they speak languages other than our 11 official languages, or because they may be undocumented. The purpose of the census is to count everybody, and because the census details are covered by confidentiality provisions, the information obtained may not be given to another government department such as Home Affairs, the SA Police Service or the SA Revenue Service. The information is exclusively for the purpose of compiling the census.
Mister Speaker, we are calling on all public representatives to be ambassadors for Census 2011. I repeat the request I made when we discussed the budget of Statistics SA on 19 April 2011. Apart from the tasks of assurance and problem-solving, there is much advocacy to be done. Public representatives can do much to speak to organised formations - faith-based community organisations, civic organisations, trade union locals, sports clubs, schools, formations representing immigrant communities. Every conceivable organisation should be reached by public representatives. We make this appeal to our public representatives because you are best placed to know and understand the communities and constituencies that you represent.
While Statistics SA may be able to plan for possible contingencies, they cannot know the level of detail that a public representative would know about a particular area. We know details like where there are backyard dwellers; we know where there are farmers who may not want to disclose the number of farmworkers on their farms; and we know of households where, in reality, there may be three families in a single dwelling. These are things that, despite extensive preparation, we may miss because participants may not want us to know about them. This is where your assistance as a public representative will be invaluable. It bears reiteration that it is in your best interests that we know exactly what the structure of your constituency is.
Because your role in making this a success is so crucial, we want to arm you with adequate backup. Information packs have been made available to all hon members before the House convened this afternoon. Please join us in making Census 2011 a resounding success. We are very dependent on the efforts of public representatives to spread the word.
Unfortunately, the media, which have been outstanding at running countdowns to the football and Rugby World Cups, are less enthusiastic about running the clocks to the morning of 10 October 2011. I want to say to those fellows on the public radio - Mandla and the others who, every morning, give you a countdown on rugby - that, from tomorrow morning, they should start announcing 19 days to Census 2011. So, let us make it happen!
Ukubalwa komphakathi lokhu indaba yakho. Ngiyabonga kakhulu. [The census is your responsibility. Thank you very much.]
Hon Speaker, hon Minister, the crucial information gleaned from this census - in your words, the "largest deployment of people in peacetime" - will not only be critical to the effective governance of our country, it will serve as a control to compare against the findings of your National Planning Commission diagnostic report and shape the compilation of our national plan.
The mechanics, logistics and collation of the sought-after information are as critical as the appropriate use of the outcomes. The DA supports unreservedly this herculean effort and the fact that the Minister referred to the "we". We, as the Democratic Alliance, pledge the support of every public representative at all three spheres of representation, without any reservation. The census ambassadors who have been selected are also key to the success of the census, and thus, having popular sportsmen and women and other high-profile figures on board, is very significant. We, as DA representatives, will augment this public outreach in every way possible.
The quality and veracity of the census information have profound consequences regarding the allocation of equitable-share funding. Our population's residential patterns are some of the most dynamic in the world and the global recession has compounded this migration phenomenon. There are two provinces that are the most sought-after migration destinations, namely Gauteng and the Western Cape. The populations of these provinces grow on a weekly basis far more than any other, due to this pattern of migration in search of opportunities and a better life. It is therefore of cardinal importance that every so often we get accurate and reliable population figures.
In the absence of this, these provinces are expected to provide service delivery miracles without the necessary financial means to do so. Others that still exist largely as labour reserves are left with more resources than are needed and they, coincidentally, are the provinces that perform worst against the national service delivery indicators and those of the Millennium Development Goals, such as the province that I come from, the Eastern Cape.
Minister, my appeal today is that the training of enumerators will be suitably comprehensive so that they will be able to competently acquit themselves of their important task; that they will be adequately resourced to gain access to every residence, from difficult-to-access cluster complexes and blocks of flats to far-flung rural villages and farms. The most difficult aspect of access to our homes, however, is the environment of fear and deep suspicion that our population has for strangers. We will collectively have to take responsibility for encouraging citizens to make themselves available to these identifiable enumerators in their yellow bibs. Unfortunately, though, these bibs are easily transferable from legitimate enumerators to criminal impostors, either by design or by criminal intent.
The accessibility of the census toll-free number is of the utmost importance and its integrity and rapid response will most certainly have to outperform, for an example, the Presidential Hotline. If it is to serve the intended purposes of allaying the fears of a suspicious citizenry, this hotline will have to be able to respond immediately to queries. It must be fully staffed with competent people at all times during the census, and the South African Police Service will also have to be placed on high alert during the census period.
The Democratic Alliance supports the census and recognises the myriad reasons for conducting this important exercise, and we wish the Minister and Statistics SA the very best success in this regard.
Mr Speaker, like all other political parties, Cope supports Census 2011. It is of vital importance that we do not fail this census. We owe it to each other to be successful. We owe it to the generations that follow us, and for us to be in the business of combating poverty, this census must be a world-class event.
Harold Macmillan, the famous Prime Minister who made the "Winds of Change" speech not far from here, in the House of Assembly dining room, was asked by a journalist, "What can most easily derail government from its course?" And he replied, "Events, my son, events."
This Census 2011 is a big event. It shows only government is on course. My question today is: Where is business South Africa? Have they been thrown off course, Macmillan style? In their advertising campaigns they always piggyback on major events, but so far they have been silent. I want to ask them today to use this event as an ingredient of their advertising campaigns.
Let's roll out - let's see the MTNs, Vodacoms, South African Breweries, ABSAs, FNBs and other big spenders popularise Census 2011. They will also benefit if this is successful. They owe it to South Africa to do what they did in the World Cup 2010 for soccer and what they are doing for World Cup rugby in New Zealand now.
I now wish to invite the hon Singh and, in the spirit of Census 2011, I am going to increase your speaking time by exactly 100%. You have two minutes! [Applause.]
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker! I knew this would have some positive effect, but I hope Cope does not mistake me for a Cope member! [Laughter.] Although I feel like a fish out of water standing here, luckily, I do not have my blue shoes on. [Laughter.] Some of you who watched the adverts will know about the blue shoes and the yellow coat.
I am here to proclaim the IFP's unequivocal support for and co-operation with Census 2011. I have a few points that I want to raise. Firstly, there were reports that the Minister still did not have enough enumerators. Some were interviewed, but have taken up other occupations since then. So, can we just know if you have enough enumerators? Another concern would be the safety of enumerators. We know there are many volatile areas where there have been service delivery protests and other kinds of protests and I do hope that Statistics SA have carefully considered the safety of these enumerators when they go out.
I think the hon Trollip has mentioned foreigners in the country. I think it is a matter of concern that a number of them come across our borders. He mentioned two provinces, namely the Western Cape and Gauteng, but I think in KwaZulu-Natal you also get them coming across the borders from Mozambique. We know that a census is a wonderful tool to assist government in planning the distribution of resources; not only financial resources, but infrastructural resources as well. We know full well that any number of clinics and schools are overloaded because of the numbers of people that come into the area through rapid urbanisation, and Census 2011 would provide a mechanism for government to know exactly where to place these resources.
Mr Minister, in 1890 someone said, "There are lies, damned lies and statistics". With Census 2011 we hope that this is not the case after the whole exercise has been done. We fully support it and we say, "Viva Census 2011, viva!"
Agb Speaker, die VF Plus verwelkom die sensus n 2001, want ons besef die noodsaaklikheid daarvan. Een van die regeringsaksies wat ons tans opgewonde maak, is die beplanningskommissie van Minister Manuel, wat lyk of hy realisties na die toekoms kyk. Ons besef sonder werklike syfers en sensussyfers kan 'n mens nie 20 jaar vorentoe beplan nie.
Ons wil ook die Minister bedank. In die vorige rondte moes ons hof toe gaan om al die tale te kry. Ons verstaan al die tale gaan geakkommodeer word. Navorsing aan die Universiteit van Kaapstad toon dat net 44% van Suid- Afrikaners werklik Engels goed genoeg verstaan om op 'n sekere vlak te kommunikeer. Dit beteken die meerderheid moet verkieslik in hul eie taal hanteer word. Dit is moontlik in Suid-Afrika en ons hoop dit sal in ag geneem word.
Ek dink die Minister is bewus van die groot probleem wat misdaad veroorsaak het. Mense is regtig so wantrouig dat as jy my begin vra oor my yskas en my televisie en so meer, is ek nie seker of die doel is dat jy dit die volgende aand gaan kom "haal" en of dit ernstig is nie. Ek dink hierdie wantroue sal mens moet verdra.
Hulle s Jannie het vir sy pa gevra hoekom ons 'n sensus nodig het, of eintlik, hoekom die mense getel moet word. Sy pa het geantwoord dat hy dink daar is iemand weg. [Gelag.] Daar s mense weg en daar het nuwe mense bygekom, en ek dink ons moet die boodskap uitdra dat die sensus nodig is om Suid-Afrika 'n beter plek te maak. Kom ons hoop dis 'n goeie en professionele sensus. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Dr P W A MULDER: Hon Speaker, die FF Plus welcomes the census after 2001, because we realise why it is necessary. One of the actions of government that excites us right now is the National Planning Commission of Minister Manuel, who appears to be looking at the future realistically. We realise that without actual numbers and census statistics one cannot plan ahead for the next 20 years.
We would also like to thank the Minister. During the previous round we had to go to the court to include all the languages. We gather that all the languages will be included. Research at the University of Cape Town shows that only 44% of South Africans understand English well enough to be able to communicate at a certain level. This implies that the majority should preferably be addressed in their own language. This is possible in South Africa and we trust that it will be taken into account.
I think the Minister is aware of the huge problem caused by crime. People are really distrustful, to the extent that if you start questioning me about my fridge and my television and so on, I am not sure whether it is because you want to come and "fetch" it the next evening, or whether it is meant seriously. I think this distrust one will have to tolerate.
It is said that Jannie asked his dad why we need a census, or rather, why people should be counted. His father replied that he thought it was because someone had disappeared. [Laughter.] Indeed, there are people who have disappeared and new people have been added, and I think we should spread the message that the census is necessary to make South Africa a better place. Let's hope the census is conducted in a good and professional manner.]
Speaker, may I firstly thank the hon Minister and Statistics SA for the preparation that they have completed for, in his words, "the largest deployment of people in peacetime in our country". The ACDP would like to express its full support for this year's census, which will take place in 20 days' time.
Accurate statistics as to the size of the population will enable government to allocate services and resources better, particularly in the fight against poverty and unemployment. Additionally, every survey that Statistics SA will be doing afterwards will be measured against the statistics produced in this census and this will clearly help us in our monitoring and oversight function as MPs.
Thus, the ACDP calls on all persons and households to co-operate with the fieldworkers in the run-up to and on census day. Clearly, it will be a challenge to access the myriad informal settlements, apartments and security complexes, and we need to assist in this regard.
It is important for the public to know that enumerators are sworn to secrecy, as the Minister pointed out. This, we trust, will also address underreporting, particularly of illegal immigrants, who may be afraid that if they provide information they will be deported.
It must also be borne in mind that it is a statutory obligation to participate in this census and this should also be made known to the public.
To conclude, let us, as public representatives, rise to the challenge of making this a successful census by communicating it, as the Minister says, as a national, all-inclusive endeavour. The ACDP will fully support this census.
Hon Speaker, hon Minister in the Presidency, hon members, and Mr Pali Lehohla, Statistician-General, who is present here, let me also take this opportunity to commend the Statistician-General and his team for the professional manner in which they continue to conduct their official business for our country, because all stakeholders, be they government, business, labour or civil society in general, need statistics to plan.
Equally, it will be important to remind the Statistician-General of what he said in 2008, when he addressed the Young African Statisticians Conference in Pretoria:
There are too few South Africans who love statistics or have a passion for it. Central to the road map to overcoming these challenges is the role of Africa's young statisticians, whose intellect and ability are key to overcoming many of the technological and measurement issues in Africa.
The Minister has just alluded to some of the key challenges for the upcoming Census 2011 - indeed, people do shut their doors, let out their dogs and turn off their lights. That is because we come from very violent times in which our communities and their individual responsibilities and privacy have been violated to a certain extent.
Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister of Police and his department for their sterling work in fighting crime and corruption, as reflected in the recent crime statistics that have been released. I am certain that this will improve the situation and go a long way in ensuring that our enumerators have easy access to our homes.
Census 2011 and its outcome is more than just the counting of people. It is about national planning and resource allocation that takes into consideration local and regional integration and development beyond our borders. It is important for us as public representatives to send the message out there; to say to ...
... badudi ba Afrika-Borwa ka bophara gore ba se ke ba t?hoga selo. Bofang dimp?a le buleng le mabati le dikgoro gore bommalabatho ge ba etla go lena ba se ke ba t?ho?wa ke selo. Go bohlokwa gore mmu?o o tsebe gore badudi ke ba ba kae mo Afrika-Borwa, bana ke ba ba kae bao ba swanet?ego go ya dikolong le gore bakgekolo le bakgalabje ke ba ba kae bao ba swanet?ego go gola motente, gore o kgone go dira dipeakant?ho. Se se tla diragala fela ge le ka dumelela bommalabatho gore ba tsene mengwakong ya lena. (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[... South Africans not to be afraid. You must be kind enough to welcome the enumerators from Statistics SA into your respective homes to come and do the head count. It is important for the government to have the statistics of the people in South Africa, in terms of the number of schoolgoing children and the elderly who receive old age grants, so as to make the necessary budget arrangements. This will be possible only if you can welcome them in your respective homes.]
As we all know, the key challenge for our nation-building project remains unemployment, especially among the young, whose dreams are turning into a never-ending nightmare with a future that is increasingly fading away. It is evident that government needs statistics for its planning and the setting of specific targets to address housing needs, infrastructure development, unemployment and poverty. Our nation-building project continues to be characterised by high levels of inequality because we live in a society where some eat more, even in the presence of hunger.
Census 2011 must remind us here and now that, as public representatives, we cannot afford to be indifferent or be bystanders in the coming census count. If we are to contribute towards changing the socioeconomic conditions of our people, we must be willing to be active witnesses and encourage our people to stand tall and be counted.
Census 2011 presents the South African people with one of the most clear and definite tasks of influencing government planning in a manner that will significantly improve the wellbeing of our nation. For us as parliamentarians, it is a moment of the politics of possibilities, beyond party-political lines. Hon Speaker and hon Minister, while we agree that there will be logistical and technical challenges in accomplishing this important task, it is worth noting - and it is probably a source of encouragement for our enumerators to remember - that not very long ago, 6 million census workers in China successfully conducted their first census in a decade. They counted a population of approximately 1,3 billion people in 10 days. Surely ours should be much easier, particularly with the parliamentarians volunteering to be part of the team, communicating and emphasising the importance of people being counted, with a specific focus on gated communities, golf estates and informal settlements.
As the ANC, we are fully behind this programme. We will encourage our structures, as always, to make sure that our communities fully understand the importance of being counted. Therefore they should at all times be on the side of those who will make sure that this programme succeeds. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.