Western Cape residents urged to get counted

Statistics South Africa is calling on all households to ensure that they get counted in the 2022 Census, either online or by a fieldworker.

In a statement, the data company says that it has extended the deadline until 30 April.

It says that data collection challenges, particularly in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, which was heavily impacted by the recent extreme weather conditions, led to the decision to extend the census mop-up period

Stats SA has found that the national participation rate is 83,8%, with the Western Cape coming in at 49%.

Households have one final opportunity to complete the census questionnaire online before 30 April 2022. Households who have not been counted can go to the census website at getcounted.statsa.gov.za and fill in their name, surname and cellphone number. They will then get an OTP which will give them access to the census questionnaire.

Questionnaire completion is quick and easy, and an average household of 4 should be able to complete the questionnaire within 30 minutes.

Once the questionnaire is completed, households will get a reference number which they should keep in a safe place for when they are visited by a census fieldworker, or during the Post-Enumeration Survey, which is a quality check for the census project.

Project Director for Census in the Western Cape, Patrick Kelly, warned that households should not attempt to use the fact that online completion has reopened as an excuse for not completing the questionnaire with a fieldworker.

“Due to the short timeframe left to complete the census data collection process, fieldworkers have been instructed to count any household that is not able to produce proof that they have been counted online or telephonically as they come across them. Households who do not cooperate will be registered as having refused to participate, and the appropriate legal steps will be taken.”

Stats SA says the Statistics Act and the Protection of Personal Information Act, better known as the POPI Act, ensures that all data collected by Statistics SA remains confidential. StatsSA reassured the public that data on an individual cannot be shared with any other agency; any data released by Stats SA is aggregated and confidentialised to ensure being anonymous

Meanwhile, Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis says getting counted means that the municipality can get a sense of what resources is needed in the metro

‘’If Census underreports the population of the Western Cape and by extension the City of Cape Town, national budget allocations will be misaligned to the real population figures, and insufficient to meet the needs of our residents in terms of access to basic services. It is therefore critical that we make every effort to ensure that as many Capetonians as possible are counted.

Hill-Lewis has called on all Capetonians to get counted.

‘’As the City of Cape Town, we have an important role to play in the census, and each Capetonian and their household must be accurately counted. I appeal to every Capetonian to ensure that they are counted.’’

Western Cape premier, Alan Winde, shared hill-Lewis’ sentiments.

‘’To put it simply, if we do not get an accurate census count for our province, we may have fewer resources available to deliver services in the future, which could impact each and every resident. This is a major risk, which we must avert’’

‘’I therefore urgently call on residents to play their part and get counted as soon as possible. If you have already been counted, please also ask your colleagues, friends and family whether they have been counted and encourage or help them to do so if they haven’t yet. This is absolutely critical and something that we must all prioritise as we approach the deadline,’’ added Winde.

 

PICTURE: StatsSA

Done By: Mitchum George