The Minister in the Presidency, Mr Jackson Mthembu notes the media statement issued by the South African Statistics Council regarding the funding challenges at Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). The SA Stats Council is a statutory body as outlined in the Stats Act, Act 6 of 1999. They are independent from Stats SA and advise the Statistician-General as well as the Minister on matters official statistics.
The lack of funding for Stats SA is a matter the Minister is fully aware of. The Minister and the Statistician-General have been in negotiations with the Minister of Finance in this regard. These negotiations borne fruit in the sense that National Treasury has provided partial additional funding to Stats SA. The Statistician-General is currently looking at reprioritizations as a result of the allocation that will come into effect on 1st April 2020.
The Minister appreciates Council’s intention of keeping the integrity of the statistical system intact and is committed to working with Stats SA to protect the respected quality of our official statistics.
The Minister, Council and the Statistician-General will meet on Sunday, 23rd February 2020, to further engage on ways to guarantee the integrity of the entire system of the nation’s statistics, for the short and the long term within the constraints the national fiscus is faced with.
Enquiries:
Nonceba Mhlauli
Ministry Spokesperson
Cell: 072 623 3462
