After two consecutive quarters of decline, the South African economy spluttered back to life in the second quarter of 2017. Positive contributions to higher economic activity across most industries – in particular agriculture, finance and mining – lifted the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2,5% quarter-on-quarter (seasonally adjusted and annualised). Agriculture continued to show strong   read more »

The recent power blackout in Msunduzi municipality again highlights the importance of electricity supply. Large parts of Pietermaritzburg were plunged into darkness for about a week when saboteurs, suspected to be striking workers, disrupted the city’s power grid2. It might be common knowledge that municipalities are involved in power distribution in South Africa, but many   read more »

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                                                           1 June 2017                      Quarterly Labour Force Survey – QLFS Q1:2017 The growth in employment by 144 000, was offset by the growth in the number of job-seekers by 433 000   read more »

The 1970s are best remembered for disco, bell-bottoms, and the mesmerising lava lamp. It was also the decade that saw South African mining forge ahead in its influence on the economy and employment. How has the economy in general, and mining in particular, shifted since then? Mining’s contribution to total economic production climbed in the   read more »

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                                                                                         29 March 2017 Mining industry, 2015 Statistics South Africa presents the Mining industry, 2015 results. Income The total income for the mining industry has increased by 2,2% per annum, from R393,4 billion in 2012 to R419,5 billion in 2015. Comparing 2012 and 2015, large increases were reported for ‘coal and lignite’ (+R21,9   read more »

Media advisory                                                                                            27 March 2017   Statistician-General to release the results of the Census of Mining and a report on the Social profile of older persons   The Statistician-General of South Africa, Dr Pali Lehohla, will release two key datasets at a media briefing to be held on Wednesday, 29 March 2017   read more »

The South African formal sector employment shrank by 67 000 jobs in the second quarter of this year. According to the June 2016 Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey released by Statistics South Africa, an estimated 9 218 000 persons were employed in the formal non-agricultural sector of the South African economy. Quarterly employment losses were observed in all   read more »

Industry growth rates depend on many factors, and the South African manufacturing industry is no exception. The state of the local and global economy and the rand exchange rate are some of the factors that are watched closely when assessing the performance of manufacturing production.   Figure 1 shows the severe impact of the global   read more »

 Media release                                    12  September 2016   Farming communities are unreceptive towards health survey fieldworkers       South African Demographic and Heath Survey (SADHS) fieldworkers are experiencing challenges in some areas of the country, which is delaying the completion of data collection for the survey. Most of the areas in which fieldworkers find themselves not welcome are   read more »

  Mpumalanga Community Survey 2016 results   The total population recorded for Mpumalanga in 2016 was 4,4 million, an increase from the population of 4,1 million in 2011, making it the fourth smallest province in the country in terms of population size, after the North West. 49,3% of the population in the province are male   read more »