Census in Brief: Introduction

In October 1996, South Africans were counted for the first time as citizens of a democracy. More than 100 000 people were employed to collect information on persons and households throughout the country using a uniform methodology. Census night, or the night of the count, was 9 -10 October 1996. In preparation, the country was divided into about 86 000 small pockets of land, called enumerator areas (EAs). An enumerator was assigned to each EA to visit the structures within it.

Questionnaires were made available in all 11 official languages. In addition, separate questionnaires were compiled for those living in hostels or in institutions, and for the homeless. The information collected was processed in nine provincial centres, employing about 5 000 people to work in shifts for nine months to code the questionnaires and capture the data on computer. The captured data were then edited and made accessible for analysis. Census in Brief summarises the findings generated by this process. For those who require more information on how the census was conducted, a separate publication is being issued which describes the census methodology in detail.

In every census, there are bound to be some people or households who are missed, or some people who are counted twice. During November 1996, a post-enumeration survey (PES) was undertaken to determine the degree of under- or over-count in Census '96. For those who are interested in the details, a separate publication describing the methodology of the PES is also being issued. The numbers and percentages presented in this report have been adjusted by the PES findings.

Adjusting the count leads to the introduction of fractions. These fractions have been rounded to whole numbers. Due to rounding, the totals may not always be exactly the same in every table.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has recently changed the official definition of unemployment, in line with 80% of other developed and developing countries. According to the new definition:

• The unemployed are those people within the economically active population who:

( a ) did not work during the seven days prior to the interview,

( b ) want to work and are available to start work within a week of the interview, and

( c ) have taken active steps to look for work or to start some form of self-employment in the four weeks prior to the interview.

• The official unemployment rate is calculated as the percentage of the economically active population which is unemployed, according to the above definition.

• The new official unemployment rate corresponds to what Stats SA previously called the strict unemployment rate, i.e. using criterion (c) as well as (a) and (b). By contrast, the expanded unemployment rate does not require criterion (c). It was the previous official definition.

In the census questionnaire, questions were not asked on work-seeking behaviour in the four weeks prior to the night of Census '96. Therefore we cannot use the new official definition in this publication to describe unemployment rates. Instead, the expanded definition will be used, and all figures and percentages in this issue are based on expanded unemployment rates.

Another separate publication is being issued containing the definitions of terms as they were used in the census. Nevertheless, for the convenience of readers, the main terms used in this publication are defined below.

• Household: a household consists of a single person or a group of people who live together for at least four nights a week, who eat from the same pot and who share resources.

• Hostel: a hostel is a communal living area for workers, provided by a public organisation such as a local authority, or a private organisation, such as a mining company. These included residential dormitories and similar structures established for migrant workers during the apartheid era, and they continue to house people working in certain industries, such as the mining industry.

• Institutions: institutions are communal temporary, semi-permanent or living arrangements for people in special circumstances, for example prisons, police cells, school boarding facilities, homes for the aged or the disabled, hotels and hospitals.

• The working age population includes all those aged between 15 and 65 years.

• The economically active population consists of both those who are employed and those who are unemployed. The terms supply of labour and the labour force are used as synonyms for the economically active population.

• Labour market status refers to whether or not a person is in or out of the labour market, i.e. whether or not he or she is economically active.

• The employed are those who performed work for pay, profit or family gain at the time of the census or who were absent from work, but did have some form of work for pay, profit or family gain.

• The unemployed (expanded definition) are those who did not work at the time of the census, but were looking for work.

• The people who are out of the labour market or who are not economically active are those in the age category 15 to 65 years who are not available for work. This category includes full-time scholars and students, full-time homemakers, those who are retired, and those who are unable or unwilling to work.

• The labour force participation rate is calculated as the percentage of the working age population which is economically active (the employed and the unemployed).

• The labour absorption rate is calculated as the percentage of the working age population which is employed.

• Economic sector or industry refers to the type of organisation or business in which the person works, for example, agriculture, forestry and fishing, manufacturing or construction. There are nine economic sectors (domestic work is included in the community, personal and social services sector).

• Occupation refers to the actual work the person does, for example, professional, clerical or elementary work. There are nine broad occupational categories (domestic work is usually included as elementary work). The same occupation may be carried out in various economic sectors.

• The primary sector includes agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying.

• The secondary sector includes manufacturing, electricity and other utilities, and construction.

• The tertiary sector includes trade, transport, financial and business services, and social, personal and community services.

• Primary education extends over seven years. It consists of the following school classes: Grade 1 and 2 and Standards 1 to 5 (now called Grades 3 to 7).

• Secondary education follows on primary education, and extends over another five-year period. It consists of Standards 6 to 9, and Standard 10 or matriculation (now called Grades 8 to 12).

• Higher education consists of all education undertaken by those who have completed their Standard 10 at accredited institutions. Certificates, degrees and diplomas issued by an accredited institution are all regarded as examples of higher educational qualifications.

• An urban area is one which has been legally proclaimed as being urban. Such areas include towns, cities and metropolitan areas.

• A semi-urban area is not part of a legally proclaimed urban area, but adjoins it. Informal settlements are examples of these types of areas. In this publication semi-urban areas have been included with urban areas.

• All other areas are classified as non-urban or rural, including commercial farms, small settlements, rural villages and other areas which are further away from towns and cities.

• Workers include the self-employed, employers and employees in both the formal and informal sectors.

Table headings

To avoid repetition, when the entire population is being described in any table, the heading of the table does not generally refer to the actual population.

When a sub-set of the population is being discussed, for example, those aged between 15 and 65 years, the economically active or the employed population, then the sub-set is indicated in the heading of the table.

When all households are being described in any table, the term household is excluded in the table heading, but when a sub-set is being discussed, for example households without electricity, then the description of the sub-set is given in the heading of the table.

Unspecified values

In all tables, unspecified values are given as a separate category, sometimes combined with other categories, and sometimes as a category on its own.

As a general rule, in the graphs of this publication, and in the percentage tables, unspecified values are excluded, since their inclusion can distort the picture being presented.

Population group

Statistics South Africa has continued to classify people into population group, since moving away from past apartheid-based discrimination, and monitoring progress in development over time, involves measuring differences in life circumstances by population group. This classification, in common with other countries such as the United States of America which uses a population group-based classification system, is no longer based on a legal definition, but rather on self-classification.

The Griquas and others who preferred to classify themselves as a distinct group are included in the category ‘other /unspecified’ because their numbers were too small for a separate analysis of their situation in this summary publication. Where appropriate they will be described separately in other publications or electronic products.

Reporting of percentages

All percentages are shown to one decimal place in the graphs, but they are reported as whole numbers in the text, for ease of reading.