Speech by Deputy Minister in The Presidency, Nonceba Mhlauli, during the Budget Vote Debate for Statistics South Africa (Vote 14)
Honourable Chairperson of the Session;
Minister in The Presidency, Honourable Khumbudzo Ntshavheni;
Deputy Minister in The Presidency, Honourable Kenny Morolong;
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Honourable Thelisa Mgweba;
Honourable Members of Parliament;
Our Statistician General, Risenga Maluleka;
Our Chairperson of the Statistics Council, Dr Nompumelelo Mbele;
Fellow South Africans!
I want to start by recalling the words of English philosopher and physician, John Locke, when he said - “Our assent ought to be regulated by the grounds of probability.”
This timeless insight by Locke reminds us that belief, judgment and ultimately policy must be guided NOT by sentiment or speculation, but by evidence. And in the context of a democratic and developmental state such as ours, that evidence is found in official statistics - carefully produced, neutrally presented, and made available to all.
It is, therefore, both an honour and a duty for me to rise today in support of the Minister in the Presidency, Honourable Ntshavheni, as she tables Budget Vote 14 for Statistics South Africa, our country’s national statistical office, simple known as Stats SA.
Stats SA carries a profound responsibility: to ensure that our country has the statistical evidence it needs to make informed, transformative decisions.
As Members of Parliament and as policymakers, we cannot legislate in the dark. We must see the full picture - clearly, accurately, and regularly. That is why Stats SA’s advocacy mantra remains as relevant as ever: “Evidence-based decision-making.”
Honourable Members,
We debate this Budget Vote under the banner of a Government of National Unity -a collective political commitment to work together, across differences, to advance the aspirations of all South Africans. For this unity to succeed, it must be grounded in a shared understanding of the facts. That shared understanding can only come from a trusted and independent source of information such as Stats SA.
The department’s 2025/26 Work Programme is bold in scope and vital to our progress. It commits to the release of more than 290 statistical reports and publications, spanning the economic, social, and environmental domains. These outputs will help us understand the country we are building - its strengths, its fault lines, and its opportunities.
Among the most significant innovations in the year ahead is the continued development of the Continuous Population Survey - an ambitious re-engineering of household data collection into a modular system, enabling more detailed, localised data that aligns with our District Development Model.
This will be underpinned by updates to Stats SA’s geographic information frame, a technical but critical building block for precision in sampling and coverage.
However, Honourable Members, innovation alone is not enough. We need the public to understand and participate in Stats SA’s work. Increasingly, fieldworkers are finding it difficult to access sampled households due to rising mistrust and lack of awareness.
That is why public engagement campaigns must be prioritised. They help foster trust and improve response rates; without which our statistics lose accuracy and legitimacy.
We began our day early this morning with a community outreach initiative not far from these Chambers - in Gugulethu and Nyanga. This was not just a symbolic gesture. It was a deliberate effort to bring Statistics South Africa closer to the people, where it belongs. We engaged with commuters, distributed information, and most importantly, listened. Because statistics are not just numbers - they are our stories, our struggles, our progress or even failures.
That outreach was part of our broader mission: to demystify the work of Stats SA, encourage public participation in surveys, and remind communities that data is only powerful when it is shared, protected, and understood.
We are also mindful of the devastating floods that have impacted parts of our country. Natural disasters do not only destroy infrastructure - but they also displace lives, break routines, and often hit the poorest hardest. In times like these, Stats SA plays a critical role.
By providing accurate data on household vulnerability, migration patterns, service delivery, and access to housing, the national statistics office helps government and relief agencies respond better and faster. Data enables targeted disaster response and long-term recovery planning. In short, stats save lives.
Let us also salute the youth - not just as future leaders, but as present-day champions of change.
We are a young nation with a median age of 28. This youthful population presents a powerful opportunity - a potential demographic dividend - that could drive economic growth and social progress. But this dividend is not automatic.
To unlock it, we must ensure our youth are well-educated, gainfully employed, and in good health. Only then can their energy, innovation, and numbers become the engine of our nation's future.
So, as the Minister tables Budget Vote 14 before this House, we carry the voices of people from Gugulethu and Nyanga and the rest of the country we meet earlier today. Our engagements this morning reinforces a vital truth: that national progress starts with local trust. Stats SA does not work from afar.
The work of the national statistics office reinforces a simple fact – the interconnected of data collection, community participation, and policy formulation.
Together, let us keep building South Africa on facts - not fear.
Let me be clear:
A well-funded, capacitated Stats SA is not a luxury. It is an essential endowment to our democracy and our developmental state. Reliable data is the bedrock of reducing inequality, targeting services, and measuring progress.
Inadequate funding and persistent vacancies at Stats SA risk weakening one of the very tools meant to strengthen our country.
Honourable Members,
Recent debates around unemployment statistics remind us of the need for clarity about Stats SA’s mandate. The department is guided by the Statistics Act of 1999, now strengthened through the amendments signed into law in December 2024. The new Statistics Amendment Act (No. 29 of 2024) enables improved coordination across government and enshrines the professional independence required for statistical credibility.
Let us not forget:
Stats SA does not create unemployment. It measures it.
Stats SA does not make policy. It informs it.
It is for us - the policymakers, the lawmakers, the executive - to use these insights wisely.
Chairperson,
I would like to bring to your attention the operating environment of statistics offices worldwide.
National statistics offices - including our own Stats SA - face modern challenges that demand innovation and resilience. These include growing mistrust in institutions, misinformation spreading faster than facts, declining survey response rates, digital exclusion in poor and rural communities, and the increasing cost and complexity of collecting reliable data.
In this environment, we must adapt by embracing digital tools, investing in data literacy among our people, strengthening partnerships with community leaders, and reaffirming the independence and credibility of our statistical systems. Only then can we ensure that evidence-based decision-making remains the cornerstone of democracy and development.
I close by acknowledging the thousands of hardworking professionals at Stats SA, from fieldworkers to statisticians, whose quiet dedication helps all of us see South Africa more clearly. May we match their commitment with the resources, legislation, and support they require to do their work effectively.
As this House considers and adopts Budget Vote 14, let it be said that we chose not to govern by instinct, nor by ideology alone - but by truth, by facts, and by evidence.
Ke a leboga. Enkosi. Thank you.
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