MEDIA STATEMENT

STATS SA CLARIFIES MISREPRESENTATION ON QLFS QUESTIONNAIRE UPDATE

 13 August 2025

For immediate release

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) notes recent media reports attempting to link the latest update to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) questionnaire with comments made by the former CEO of Capitec Bank. This linkage is factually incorrect, misleading, and at best mischievous – at worst, malicious.

Since 2024, Stats SA has engaged in a transparent and consultative process with stakeholders and labour market data users to align the QLFS with the latest resolutions of the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS).

This process included engagement with key stakeholders, questionnaire testing (including pilot tests), culminating in the planned implementation of the updated questionnaire in the third quarter of 2025.

In line with international statistical standards, when new variables or concepts are introduced into an official survey, Stats SA is obliged to communicate such changes publicly. The recent communiqué on the QLFS update serves this purpose and is unrelated to any individual’s commentary on unemployment statistics.

Importantly:

The definition of “employment” and “unemployment” remains unchanged.

The updates expand the measurement of labour underutilisation and introduce internationally recognised concepts such as the potential labour force and time-related underemployment, enabling a more detailed and comprehensive view of the labour market.

In accordance with the 21st ICLS resolution adopted in 2023, the classification of economic units into formal or informal sectors, which is based on characteristics of the workplace, now recognises registration as the key criterion. Typically, this will be a national business register (i.e. Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)), tax register (i.e. Value Added Tax (VAT)) or similar. There are now multiple criteria, and size is no longer part of them. Also considering whether the business is incorporated or keep accounts for tax purposes.

Essentially, a business will be classified as operating within the informal sector if it is not registered with the CIPC, is not registered for VAT or does not keep accounts for tax purposes

The enhancements are intended to provide policymakers, researchers, and the public with richer, more accurate insights into South Africa’s labour market, particularly the informal sector, without altering the core definitions that underpin the unemployment rate.

Stats SA remains committed to transparency, methodological rigour, and adherence to international statistical best practice in all its surveys.

Ends//

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Felicia Sithole

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Email: felicias@statssa.gov.za