IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

The most spoken language within the municipality is Setswana (93%), followed by English (1,6%).The least spoken languages are Xitsonga and Tshivenda, which stood at 0,1% and 0% respectively according to Census 2011 results. A total of 98,2% of the municipal population classify themselves as black Africans, while 0,4%, 1% and 0,2% classified themselves as white, coloured and Asian/Indian respectively. Of the 177 642 population, about 53% is female, while only about 47% is male. A high proportion of the municipal population (75%) has never been married, while only 14,9% are married and 4,5% are not married but living together like married partners.

A greater proportion of Greater TaungMunicipality is 0–14 years(35,9%), followed by members of the population aged15–34 years (31,7%).Members of the population aged 35–64 years account for 24,6% and those aged 65 years and above account for 7,9% of the entire municipal population.

48,3% of the population is not economically active, and among those who are, 50% are unemployed.

Although about 88% of the dwelling units/structures are built from bricks/concrete blocks, and the average household size is only about four people per household, the municipality is faced with challenges such as absence of mail delivery services

It should be noted that, even though the unemployment rate in 2011 stood at 50%, there has been a significant improvement when compared to 2001, when the municipal unemployment rate stood at 65%.

As far as other major services are concerned, the municipality household access to electricity is 89%, compared to 49% in 2001. All of those with access to electricity use it for lighting, 40,3% use it for heating and about 73% for cooking.

Only 10,1% of the households within the municipality have access to a flush toilet, of which 9% is a flush toilet connected to a sewage system and 1,1% is a flush toilet with a septic tank. A total of 77,8% of households use pit toilets, with 29% using a pit toilet with ventilation and 49% using a pit toilet without ventilation.

As the municipality is 95% rural, only 7,6% of the municipal households have their refuse disposal removed by the municipality, whereas over 82% use their own refuse dump.

About 98% of households have access to piped (tap) water. From this percentage, 10% has access inside their dwelling units, 10,3% inside their yards, 51,2% access tap water on a community stand that is a distance of less than 200m from their yards, 18% travel between 200m and 500m to access tap water, and8,3% travel 500m and more to access tap water.

The Greater Taung Municipalityhas an agriculture-based economy, focusing on both livestock and crops. Most of the crops produced are exported to the Northern Cape as raw materials for further processing, as the neighbouring farmers are equipped with advanced processing machinery. Thus, a large portion of income is derived from the agricultural sector which is mainly owned by individual farmers/corporations. The agricultural sector is the one that employs the majority of the inhabitants. There is also subsistence farming by villagers who, at times, sell their produce to generate a household income.

There are also a few government sector departments (sub-district offices) that also contribute to the employment of the municipal population. The newly-built Taung Mall boosts a number of giant retailers.The retail-trade industry also contributes, though not significantly,to the municipal GDP.