Pretoria - In the second quarter of 2011, about 1.2 million South Africans were involved in volunteer work, says Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).
According to the Volunteer Activities Survey (VAS) - which collects data about people involved in volunteer activities and also aims to estimate the economic value of volunteer work - direct volunteering accounted for 53.9% of total volunteer work while 36.8 volunteered through organisations - such as church organisations.
The survey found that white people had a higher volunteer rate compared to other population groups.
The survey also found that women contributed about 256 million hours approximately over a 12 month-period, valued at 4.4 billion annually. Women volunteered at a high rate (4.3%) than men (2.6%).
"South Africans spent about 379 million hours on volunteer work over a 12-month period. Had this work been compensated, it would have cost R7.5 billion per annum," said Chief Survey Statistician for Household Labour Market Statistics Malerato Mosiane on Tuesday.
The volunteer rate was highest among divorced/separated women and married women while those with higher levels of education volunteered more than their lesser educated counterparts.
