South Africa Survey 2017

The Social Security chapter has 30 pages detailing social security expenditure and its beneficiaries. The chapter covers the structure of responsibility, personnel and services, social grant beneficiaries, non-profit organisations, unemployment insurance, and compensation of workers.

The Public Finance chapter comprises 52 pages of detailed information on how much the Government receives and from whom, as well as how much it spends and on what.

The 46-page Politics and Government chapter provides up-to-date figures on South Africa’s political landscape. It details party representation at national, provincial, and local level and provides audit performance data on all three tiers. The chapter also covers issues such as government performance, social cohesion, race relations, and international indices comparing South Africa’s performance on several democracy indicators with the rest of the world.

The Living Conditions chapter takes up 46 pages tracking the Government’s delivery of basic services such as water, sanitation, electricity, and refuse removal. Access to land and housing is also included. The chapter also has data on informal settlements, housing shortages, and access to affordable housing.

The Industrial Relations chapter focuses, in 26 pages, on the structure of employment in South Africa, trade union coverage, and wage comparisons across different sectors. Attention is also paid to strike action, its triggers, and duration.

The Health chapter comprises 78 pages of data on South Africa’s health system and is divided into three main sections: the health resources and services section includes figures on expenditure, structure of responsibility, regulatory bodies, medical personnel, and health facilities; the health indicators section includes data on mortality, nutrition, and diseases; and the HIV and AIDS section looks at infection and prevalence rates, treatment and prevention, as well as deaths.

In 74 pages, the Employment chapter tracks South Africa’s labour market and its participants. It includes data on employment, unemployment, employment equity, labour shortages, and job creation. Indicators show trends over the last decade and are broken down by race, sex, province, and industry.

The Education chapter is made up of 122 pages that provide an in-depth look at South Africa’s education system at all stages, ranging from preschool to tertiary level. The detailed sub-sections provide a comprehensive picture of the resources in schools, as well as examination results and output.

The Economy chapter takes up 81 pages of data on all aspects of the South African economy plus a number of comparisons with selected countries across the globe.

In 80 pages, the Demographics chapter illustrates the structure of South Africa’s population by race, sex, age, location, living arrangements, religion, and language. The data shows past, current, and future trends, tracking various aspects of the human journey between birth and death. International comparisons are also included.

The Crime and Security chapter consists of 104 pages on all aspects of the criminal justice system – the South African Police Service (SAPS), the courts, and prisons – as well as defence and private security. As with preceding years, the official 20 most serious crimes are documented, while provincial breakdowns of selected crimes also feature. The section on the SAPS includes murders of police officials, violence and crime by the police, and skills shortages within the service. Additions also include an expanded section on corruption and fraud, deaths in initiation schools, crimes involving sex, crime on the roads, and political violence.

The Communications chapter has 44 pages of data on the means of communication used by households and individuals. An overview of access to telecommunications such as telephones, cellphones, postal services, and the Internet is given. Access to different modes of transport is also included. Additions include data on the numbers of radio listeners, television viewers, and newspaper readers.

The Business and Infrastructure chapter comprises 74 pages detailing South Africa’s business environment and its structure. International indices are covered extensively to track South Africa’s global competitiveness. The infrastructure component of the chapter looks at the state of physical infrastructure in South Africa and what projects are underway to improve it.

The Assets and Incomes chapter runs to 52 pages and provides up-to-date information on earnings, expenditure, savings, investment, ownership, and poverty patterns in South Africa. The data is broken down by race, age, province, sector, occupation, and income bracket.