Annual Report 201617 Book 1 18 August 2017 excl …

1 Annual Report . 2016/17 [BOOK 1]. THE SOUTH AFRICA I KNOW, THE HOME I UNDERSTAND. STATS SA. STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA. Statistics South Africa Private Bag X44. Pretoria 0001. Koch Street, Salvokop Pretoria 0002. User information services: (012) 310 8600. Fax: (012) 310 8500. Main switchboard: (012) 310 8911. Fax: (012) 310 7381. Website: Email: Annual Report 2016/17. Book 1. Statistics South Africa, 2017. Pali Lehohla, Statistician-General Annual Report 2016/2017 (Book 1) / Statistics South Africa Published by Statistics South Africa, Private Bag X44, Pretoria 0001. Statistics South Africa, 2017. Users may apply or process this data, provided Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is acknowledged as the original source of the data; that it is specified that the application and/or analysis is the result of the user's independent processing of the data; and that neither the basic data nor any reprocessed version or application thereof may be sold or offered for sale in any form whatsoever without prior permission from Stats SA.

2 Annual Report 2016/2017 (Book 1) / Statistics South Africa. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa, 2017. 248pp. RP122/2017. ISBN: 978-0-621-45440-6. i. Annual reports Statistics South Africa ii. Series (LCSH 16). A complete set of Stats SA publications is available at Stats SA Library and the following libraries: National Library of South Africa, Pretoria Division National Library of South Africa, Cape Town Division Library of Parliament, Cape Town Bloemfontein Public Library Natal Society Library, Pietermaritzburg Johannesburg Public Library Eastern Cape Library Services, King William's Town Central Regional Library, Polokwane Central Reference Library, Mbombela Central Reference Collection, Kimberley Central Reference Library, Mmabatho This Report is available on the Stats SA website: Copies are obtainable from: Reprographics, Statistics South Africa Tel: (012) 310 8619.

3 (012) 310 8161. Email: Contents Section 1: General information 3. Section 2: Performance information 31. Section 3: Governance 95. Section 4: Human resource information 105. Section 5: Financial information 139. List of abbreviations and acronyms 241. Submission of the Report to the executive authority Minister JT Radebe It is my pleasure to submit the 2016/17 Annual Report of Statistics South Africa for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017, in compliance with section 7(2)(c) of the Statistics Act, 1999 (Act No. 6 of 1999), section 40(1)(d)(i) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999), and in accordance with section 18 of the Treasury Regulations. PJ Lehohla Statistician-General Section 1: General information 1. Foreword by the Minister As Minister responsible for Statistics South Africa, I am pleased to hand over the Annual Report for tabling in Parliament.

4 Statistics South Africa is our national statistics agency empowered by the Statistics Act, Act No. 6 of 1999, to play a critical role in our democracy. I took responsibility for Stats SA following the elections of 2014. when I was appointed Minister for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. The journey with Stats SA has been a marvelling one. Stats SA has stayed true to form by meeting its targets and delivering to expectation. The measurement of the expenditure side of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been transferred from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to Stats SA. This episode ended a seven-decade practice of a dual-line estimation of the GDP, where Stats SA had all along been responsible for the production side of the GDP. In the year under review, Stats SA. moved into a new home, ISIbalo House, at Salvokop in Pretoria.

5 The new Stats SA headquarters is located next to the Freedom Park precinct where the names are displayed of our illustrious heroes who have fought for the democracy that we enjoy today. The ISIbalo House location echoes our message that freedom, information and democracy are intertwined into inseparability. This notion hammers home the decision by government in 2009. to place Stats SA side by side with the planning function. Stats SA, while close to the policy space, continues to enjoy its independence at all times. National statistics agencies all over the world require solid leadership. They further require a proper and yet robust interface among all the institutions as prescribed by legislation. To this date, we have observed a great relationship between myself as Minister responsible for statistics as well as with the South African Statistics Council and the Statistician-General (SG).

6 As Minister, I approve the Work Programme of Stats SA. The Statistics Council is an independent body that represents members of society from all walks of life. It is responsible for providing advice to both the Minister and the SG. The SG is responsible for the implementation of the Statistics Act. The current SG is concluding his employment contract this year and the search for a new SG is on course. Stats SA is leapfrogging towards the use of advanced technology. We have observed the deployment of computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) during the 2016 Community Survey (CS). The results of the CS. were released to the South African public exactly two months after concluding fieldwork. Stats SA is currently taking steps to attend to the CAPI transition in its field collections. As Stats SA turns the corner on technology, it still has to get to work to attend to matters of legislative reform, trade statistics and entrenching the role of official statistics within the planning function.

7 4. Our democracy was never handed on a silver platter to us. We toiled hard to achieve the current dispensation. It is therefore very critical that we protect our gains. Stats SA, therefore, is one of the institutions that we need to continue protecting our gains so that the agency can discharge of its duties with all the requisite independence. Mr JT Radebe (MP). Minister in the Presidency: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation 5. 2. Foreword by the Chairperson of the Statistics Council The year 2016/17 is marked by the occurrence and the achievement of three historic milestones in the area of official statistics: The first publication by Statistics South Africa of a complete set of National Accounts; the completion, and occupation by Statistics South Africa, of the new home of Statistics South Africa ISIbalo House; and the successful hosting of the first United Nations World Data Forum on African soil and, more specifically, in Cape Town, South Africa.

8 Stats SA has been responsible for the publication of one side the production side of National Accounts. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) had, for the past seventy years, been responsible for the drawing up and publication of the expenditure side of National Accounts. In June 2016, a joint effort of Stats SA and the SARB. culminated in the successful publication by Stats SA of a set of National Accounts covering both the production and expenditure sides. This achievement elevated South Africa's advancement towards the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. The National Accounts System on the continent has been subjected to a torrent of unfair criticism through Afro-pessimism attacks on its quality and credibility. ISIbalo House is the new home of Stats SA. This is a state-of-the-art building in many respects.

9 It is a benchmark Public Private Partnership, the construction of which took eighteen months and which now houses all of Stats SA's divisions under one roof. The contribution of Stats SA in global statistical development has been manifested again this year by the successful hosting of the first United Nations World Data Forum in this country and in the city of Cape Town. The outcome of the UN World Data Forum was the adoption of the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data with the following six strategic areas: 1. Coordination and strategic leadership on data for sustainable development 2. Innovation and modernization of national statistical systems 3. Strengthening of basic statistical activities and programmes, with particular focus on addressing the monitoring needs of the 2030 Agenda 4. Dissemination and use of sustainable development data 5.

10 Multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainable development data 6. Mobilize resources and coordinate efforts for statistical capacity building The UN World Data Forum has put the United Nations Statistics Commission on the driving seat in the development of statistical response to the global data and statistical needs, as called for by heads of state and 6. government and contained in the document titled, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The implementation of the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data shall serve to advance national statistics and statistical coordination in response to the global 2030 Development Agenda. These global statistical developments in which Stats SA is playing such an important part have coincided with efforts at strengthening the South African National Statistics System.