Statistics South Africa would like to inform and remind citizens about participating in the Stats SA survey.
Lesedi Dibakwane media relations officer for Statistics South Africa said that the survey happens every five years and approximately 1.3 million homes will be visited from 7 March to the end of April. Only selected suburbs and households in all nine provinces will be approached.
“The main objective is to provide population and household statistics at municipal level to government and private sector to support planning and decision making. Fieldworkers will be visiting selected homes to complete an electronic questionnaire. Some homes will be visited more than once if they are chosen to be part of an Evaluation Survey that will be conducted to verify the quality of the information collected,”explained Dibawane.
Sundowner resident Suzette Oborn said she was unaware that Stats SA was visiting different homes in the country and was concerned when fieldworkers came to her residence.
“The fieldworker was persistent about me doing the survey, even though I let her know we were not notified before hand. I’m concerned about the questions they want us to answer and if it will be confidential. I feel they should be awareness beforehand, so we can be prepared to answer questions about our personal household goods,” explained Oborn.
Dibawane explained that fieldworkers may ask you or other household members questions related to your household and living conditions. Residents have a legal obligation to answer these questions truthfully. Once your household’s information is captured, no one will be able to see where the information came from.
“Staff found guilty of breach of confidentiality can be fined up to R10 000 or jailed for six months. In addition if you refuse a fieldworker entry to your premises or refuse to answer questions, you can be fined up to R10 000 or jailed for six months. We plead with residents to cooperate so we can get the correct information for our survey,” concluded Dibakwane.
Details:Statistics South Africa 0800 110 248, CS2016@statssa.gov.za.
