President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Census 2022 report clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the economic and social policies that have been pursued by successive democratic administrations.
“The results of the Census show that as we continue to work for universal access to basic services, housing, health and education, we need to pursue stable and prudent macroeconomic policies that have a strong developmental perspective,” the President said.
President Ramaphosa was responding to Questions for Oral Reply in the National Assembly on Thursday.
The President emphasised that the Census 2022 results show substantial shifts in important indicators such as access to education, housing, electricity, water and sanitation facilities.
“The results have significant implications for policy and planning in South Africa.
“The Census 2022 data will be used in the work being coordinated by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation on the 30-year review of progress since the advent of democracy and for the development of the medium-term national development plan for 2024 to 2029,” the President said.
The Census has shown that South Africa continues to have relatively high levels of population growth and urbanisation. The population increased by 20% from 2011 to 2022, an increase of 10.3 million people.
Gauteng, as South Africa’s most populous and most urbanised province saw an increase in population to 15.1 million people, more than double that of the Western Cape, at 7.4 million.
From a policy and planning perspective, President Ramaphosa said this points to the need to more deliberately and consistently plan for urbanisation, to ensure adequate infrastructure, service delivery and economic opportunities.
“While increasing efforts to advance rural development, government will also focus more on leveraging the role of cities as engines of growth and shared prosperity,” he said.
The Census further demonstrated that South Africa’s population remains young, with a median age of 28 years. Just over 61 percent of the population are under 35 years old.
Based on this, the President said South Africa therefore needs to continue with efforts to improve early childhood development, education outcomes and post-school education and training.
The figures further showed significant improvements in education levels in 2022 compared to 1996. For example, the percentage of people aged 20 years and older who completed secondary education more than doubled from 16% in 1996 to 38% in 2022.
The number of households almost doubled between 1996 and 2022, pointing to significant pressure on housing and services.
Significantly, there was a huge increase in the percentage of households that reside in formal dwellings, from 65% in 2011 to 89% in 2022.
There has been a massive increase in access to basic services over the last three decades. For example, there was an increase in access to electricity for lighting from 58% to 95% between 1996 and 2022. – SAnews.gov.za