Preparing to be counted
Little more than a year remains before it is time to conduct Census 2021 in South Africa
WITH just more than a year to go, preparations for Census 2021 are in high gear already, with the recent completion of the Post-enumeration Survey (PES) Mini-Test, which ran from November 14 to December 13.
The PES 2021 Mini-test is conducted independently of the Census 2021 Mini-Test. Statistics SA says: “The base for a census is an updated list of structures (the Geospatial Information Frame, or GIF), which is sub-divided into workloads called Enumeration Areas, which guide field staff about the dwellings they should visit during the data collection period.”
According to a statement by Stats SA, “during the GIF Update, field workers will visit all structures across the country and create electronic inventory lists noting the structures and their uses to determine where dwellings are found.”
“For example, a residential dwelling could have a number of backyard structures that serve as separate dwellings. If these additional dwellings are not unpacked during GIF, the allocation of fieldwork will be incorrect, and the enumerator will not have enough time to collect demographic and other data from all the dwellings in the area he/she has been allocated,” said the statement.
In the same way, an industrial complex might have a caretaker who lives on the grounds. It is important that the structures on this complex are unpacked so that the residential dwelling can be identified.
Stats SA said: “Frame update field staff are already in the field, working across the country to ensure that an updated, comprehensive list of structures is available for Census 2021.”
During the mini-test, field workers visited dwellings in selected areas and have plans to revisit some of the households between January 20 and February 14 to administer a PES questionnaire to obtain additional information.
Stats SA thanked the communities in Cape Town, Ekurhuleni, Mangaung, The Msunduzi, Polokwane, Witbank, Kimberley, Rustenburg, and Buffalo City, who participated in the successful Census 2021 Mini-Test.
Census 2021 will be the first population count to use new methods of data collection, which involve the use of digital devices.
Fieldworkers will administer the census questionnaire face-to-face with respondents, using the Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI), capturing the information on a digital device rather than a paper questionnaire and, where applicable, the option of Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), whereby a respondent completes the questionnaire online, may be used.