The statistics council has not questioned the scientific basis of last year’s Community Survey, council head Howard Gabriels said on Tuesday. And the fact that it had recommended that Statistics South Africa issues a caution on the reliability of some of the data was standard scientific practice, he said.
The estimated consumption of electricity in November 2007 increased by 2,8% compared with November 2006, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. The estimated volume of electricity consumed (available for distribution) for the three months ending November 2007 increased by 3,8% compared with the three months ending November 2006.
The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday called on Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel to sack the statistician general, Pali Lehohla. Revelations in morning newspapers that a crucial survey by Statistics South Africa contains serious errors has resulted in a serious crisis of confidence in this institution, according to the party.
Concerns have been raised about the reliability of an R600-million state-funded Statistics South Africa survey endorsed by President Thabo Mbeki. The Statistics Council of South Africa said irregularities in the survey made it questionable as to whether the survey could provide a ”scientific basis” for government policy.
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/ 19 December 2007
South African consumer inflation raced further away from the central bank’s band in November, backing the case for another interest rate rise, despite a slowdown in retail sales. The targeted CPIX gauge — which strips out mortgage costs — jumped to 7,9% year-on-year from 7,3% in October.
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/ 29 November 2007
The total number of travellers who visited South Africa through all its ports of entry during September was up 5,2% year-on-year (y/y) to 2,183-million from the 10,5% y/y growth recorded in August 2007, according to Statistics South Africa data released on Thursday.
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/ 16 November 2007
Writing in his weekly newsletter on the African National Congress website, President Thabo Mbeki on Friday railed against the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) for making ”the startling claim” that more South Africans are now poorer than they were in 1996. The SAIRR, in turn, defended itself in a statement released later in the day.
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/ 25 October 2007
South Africa’s producer price index (PPI) rose by 9,4% year-on-year (y/y) in September, unchanged from August, Statistics South Africa data on Thursday showed. The PPI declined 0,7% on a monthly basis after August’s monthly increase of 0,7%. PPI was at 9% y/y a year ago.
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/ 25 October 2007
The JSE remained firm at midday on Thursday as activity in the banking sector continued to dominate the market. At noon, the all-share index was up 0,97%, led by a 3,34% climb in the platinum mining index. The gold mining index gained 1,34% and resources rose 0,69%.
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/ 24 October 2007
Life is improving steadily — at least in the area of housing and basic service delivery — for the 48-million people living in South Africa, according to Statistics South Africa. The organisation on Wednesday released the first results of its 2007 Community Survey, based on responses from about 255Â 000 households.
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/ 24 October 2007
South Africa’s population has grown by almost a quarter over the last decade to over 48-million, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). The estimate was released on Wednesday as part of the results of Stats SA’s 2007 Community Survey, the biggest household survey ever undertaken in South Africa.
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/ 24 October 2007
The increase in South Africa’s CPIX (consumer inflation less mortgage costs) for metro and other areas, which is used by the South African Reserve Bank for its inflation target, was up 6,7% year-on-year (y/y) in September from 6,3% y/y in August, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday.
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/ 17 October 2007
South Africa’s retail trade sales picked up again in August, increasing by 6,9% year-on-year, in comparison to July’s 4,9% year-on-year rise, according to data released by Statistics SA on Wednesday. Total retail sales at constant 2000 prices reached R24,5-billion in August, up from R24,1-billion in July 2007.
The Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Fawu) has called on the government to probe the increasing prices of basic foodstuffs. ”We believe that the skyrocketing food prices are the result of anti-competitive conduct by the major role players in the food production and supply chain,” Fawu said in a statement on Wednesday.
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/ 12 September 2007
Statistics South Africa has proposed changes to the basket it uses to measure consumer inflation to reflect new technology and social trends, it said on Wednesday. The new basket would cut the number of products in the consumer price index to 386 from 1 124. If accepted, it would come into effect from 2009.
South Africa’s producer price index (PPI) rose by 10,3% year-on-year (y/y) in July from a 10,4% year-on-year increase in June, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) data on Thursday showed. The PPI rose 1,6% on a monthly basis after June’s monthly increase of 2,1%.
South Africa’s real gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised (saa) basis rose by 4,5% in the second quarter of 2007 from 4,7% in the first quarter of 2007, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. This comes after GDP rose as high as 5,6% in the fourth quarter of last year.