MBOMBELA – Without accurate statistics many data bases in South Africa will be useless. Without public participation, it is impossible to collect data to form accurate statistics. This is the problem Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) are facing.
The South African government has mandated Stats SA to collect and process data on a national level for a number of surveys every year. For Stats SA to produce statistics which are as accurate as possible, members of the public need to be informed about their mission and co-operate with them.
“We have had major problems with data collection in the past because people do want to let us enter their homes or ask personal questions,” said Stats SA spokesman in Mbombela, Ms Slindile Nkabinde. “They do not understand that their cooperation is imperative to our research.”
Stats SA have been commissioned to collect data to determine the Consumer Price Index, domestic travel surveys, victim and crime surveys and living condition surveys. They collect their information by setting up appointments with households, paying them a visit and having them fill out questionnaires for the purpose of collecting data.
Nkabinde pins the hesitance on the lack of public knowledge about the process of data collection. When Stats SA employees visit the households from which they need to collect data, they are usually met with resistance because residents have never heard of them and do not trust strangers to come into their home and ask them a series of personal problems.
“We do need to ask questions to establish what their income and expenses are. We want to know about things like substance abuse because it adds value to our statistics, which in turn are used in national decision making and many other necessary processes.”
Households may be resistant to let in strangers, however, when possible, survey officers will phone the household well in advance to set up an appointment. When the household cannot be contacted survey officers might show up unannounced but they will always carry a Stats SA branded identification card to assure participants of their legitimacy.
People may also be reluctant to divulge personal information if they have no assurance that the information will be kept strictly confidential. However, Stats Sa pride themselves in their honour policy. “A fine of R10 000 or imprisonment of up to six months or both is the penalty for a Stats SA official who is found guilty of contravening the confidentiality.”
Nkabinde and the Stats SA team in Mbombela request members of the public to cooperate with our team to assure accurate and reliable statistics in the national database.
