After the recent census in South Africa, for which the results have not yet been released, it seems interesting to take a look at the results of the 1996 national census, so as to prepare the way for a comparison with the 2011 results when they are eventually made public. 15 years may not seem like a long time in terms of the development of a national society but given the drastic political changes that happened in the 1990s in South Africa one may expect some significant shifts, particularly since by 1996 South African society had not had much time to undo the consequences of the Apartheid system.
15 years ago, there were an estimated 40.58 million people in South Africa. Just over half of them lived in urban areas, which may be a result of the Group Areas legislation of the Apartheid regime, which restricted the permission of people with darker skin to reside in the cities. It seems likely that the urbanisation statistic is going to be substantially higher in the 2011 results, in the absence of the racist Apartheid legislation.
In terms of lifestyle, the figures are harder to assess due to inflation. However, in 1996, a qurater of employed people were earning more than ZAR2500 per month, while the bottom quarter were earning less than ZAR500 a month. These earnings figures are low by today’s standards, after successive years of steady inflation.
65% of households were resident in a formally constructed structure such as a house or apartment. The remaining 35% were divided almost equally into those staying in traditional dwellings such as huts (rondavels) and shacks. This statistic is also likely have changed significantly in the last 15 years due to the national government’s prioritisation of housing.
However, of all households in South Africa, only 45% had a tap inside their dwelling. Water and sanitation continue to be important issues in South Africa, as the recent unenclosed toilet debacle in Cape Town and the Free State illustrated. It will be interesting to see to what extent these statistics have changed since 1996.
These days, Eskom often asks consumers to reduce their electricity usage. However, in 1996 only 58% of households used electricity for lighting, while the remainder used either candles or paraffin. It is therefore possible that electrification of dwellings has increased to the extent that Eskom is suffering supply problems. It will also be interesting to see what percentage of households Eskom is trying to supply at the moment.
These statistics remain very broad and general. The media may sometimes highlight cases of tardy or absent service delivery and also provide graphic footage of service delivery protests in the streets but if the general statistics for the entire country show improvement then perhaps the government is making some kind of progress in addressing poverty.
On the other hand, the improvement may also be due to improved economic opportunities and prosperity on a private basis. The key figures seem to be the percentage of shack dwellers and serviced households, since in South Africa no private company provides water and electricity connections, while housing in the townships (informal shack settlements) is also mainly a government initiative.
DISCLAIMER: 15 years is not a long time to alleviate the type and degree of socio-economic issues that South Africa is home to, and other factors, such as globalised trade and the effect of the HIV epidemic on the workforce, may have been far less important in 1996. Comparing raw statistics such as these is never entirely reliable in assessing the causes of their fluctuations, especially not in a national census.
