Barry Streek
South African statistics officials are determined that this year’s census will be the most accurate in the country’s history but it won’t include questions about whether people are HIV-positive or have Aids.
More than 40-million South Africans will be asked 69 questions based on where they sleep on the night of October 9, at a total cost of R649-million. However, statistician General Puli Lehohla is confident that if any changes in trends in age groups are uncovered during the census count, this will give an indication of the effect of the HIV/Aids pandemic.
“It will be possible to see if there are unexpected patterns in the different age groups and these could be explained, probably, by the pandemic,” he said. “I think there are already indications of a trend.”
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel said one of the problems with questions about HIV/Aids is that “you presume everyone knows their status on October 9 and 10 this year. If you don’t know, you will have distorted the survey outcome.”
He stressed, however, that HIV infection and Aids-related fatalities could be inferred by analysing changes in the age distribution of respondents in different areas.
The census will indicate whether there has been an increase in the number of orphans, and people will be asked if there have been any deaths in the home between October last year and this year.
Asked if this could give a complete picture of the extent of HIV/Aids infection, Lehohla said: “It depends on whether we have reached the full impact of this pandemic.”
With censuses due in Namibia and Botswana this year, and in Zimbabwe and Tanzania next year, an indication of the impact of Aids on the region could emerge.
Questions will be asked in the census where people were on October 9 and 10, as well as the ages, gender and marital status of people in a dwelling, and whether they have formal housing, a telephone, electricity, sanitation and piped water. They will also be asked about levels of literacy. New questions relate to forms of employment and modes of transport to and from work or school.