Pretoria - Traditional leaders will help Statistics South Africa in informing rural communities about the upcoming Census in 2011, Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) president, Phathekile Holomisa, said on Monday.
"We will make it possible for officials to come and address meetings," Holomisa said following a meeting with Statistics SA's statistician general, Pali Lehohla.
South Africa is counting down to the third census since democracy. It is scheduled from 10 - 31 October.
Holomisa said Contralesa expects Stats SA to inform them of the number of people who reside within their jurisdiction and for unemployed matriculants and graduates to be employed to conduct the counting process.
Holomisa said a meeting would be held in his jurisdiction area at the King Sabatha Dalindyebo Municipality (KSD) in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, on Friday.
Lehohla said Stats SA would take advantage of attending council meetings to address communities about the census.
Undercounting, mainly in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, was a concern.
"These are the least developed areas where undercounting is highest. Often government tends to forget to engage traditional leaders when planning programmes," said Holomisa.
Contralesa said it would make its resources available, such as room to allow enumerators to be trained.
Stats SA would start the training of enumerators on 24 September.
Although the meeting between the parties happened "a bit late", Lehohla said a lot can be done.
Last month, Stats SA said people could contact its toll free number 0800 110 248 to verify the legality of enumerators.
Although this number was available, Holomisa said many people residing in rural areas do not have access to a telephone.
"The number is not very helpful. The best way of imparting information is through traditional forums. Information about the census would be conveyed at meetings ... We will encourage people to get counted."
Lehohla added that people were being employed to count people in their own areas of residence but when enumerators moved from those areas it become tricky. "They have to know the place and people around due to the nature of the work," said the Statistician General.
Previously, President Jacob Zuma has called on South Africans to participate in the census, which will be conducted in all 11 languages as well as French and Portuguese.
"We urge all our citizens to open their doors to the census enumerators who will engage in this count," said the President, adding that projections suggest the South African population could be around 50 million.
"We need to know if that is true and how the population is distributed in terms of our settlements."
Knowing where the country's population resides, their access to services and other information collected through the census will help government plan for the future, as well as to see how far the country has come and what still needs to be done. - BuaNews
