Ntuthuzelo Nene23 August 2024 | 5:09

DA calls for re-run of 2022 census, says 'flaws are too significant to be ignored'

Statistics South Africa withdrew some crucial data from census 2022, which was scheduled to be released later in August.

DA calls for re-run of 2022 census, says 'flaws are too significant to be ignored'

FILE: Stats SA fieldworkers got the Census 2022 count under way at the Cape Town International Airport on 2 February 2022. Picture: Kaylynn Palm/Eyewitness News

CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the re-run of the country's 2022 census.

This came after Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) withdrew some crucial data from census 2022, which was scheduled to be released later in August.

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Income, employment, mortality, and fertility data have all been excluded.

DA national spokesperson, Willie Aucamp, labelled the census 2022 failure as a national crisis.

Aucamp said they expected a thorough explanation from Stats SA of the damage control measures it intended to implement.

He said the party also wanted to know how the entity planned to restore the integrity of the national data collection process.

"This is not merely an issue of bureaucracy; it is a failure of monumental proportions, with implications for all citizens. The flaws in the current census are too significant to be ignored or patched up with half-measures. We cannot afford to base our national planning on data that is fundamentally flawed."