Census 2022 undercount means budget cuts loom for some of our biggest cities
This week, a presentation by National Treasury to Parliament's Standing Committee on Appropriations included some frightening figures.
Hillbrow street, Johannesburg Image: Wikimedia Commons/Joonas Lyytinen, Käyttäjä:Joonasl
The reality of how the widely reported 31% undercount in the 2022 National Census could affect citizens, is hitting home.
A few months ago, UCT Professors Tom Moultrie and Rob Dorrington questioned whether the data from Census 2022 is actually accurate enough for official use.
RELATED: 2022 Census flaws mean data might not be accurate enough for official use'
This week, a presentation by National Treasury to Parliament's Standing Committee on Appropriations, included frightening figures.
Two provinces - Gauteng and North West - face budget share reductions based on, amongst others, the population count from Census 2022, reports News24.
'Census 2022 found that the size of the large cities had been overestimated, and grant allocations will have to be adjusted downwards. The size of dense rural municipalities – category B4 municipalities - was underestimated, and allocations must be adjusted upwards.'
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Treasury is bound to using official government data to determine budget allocations.
This will leave a gaping hole within the budgets of some our biggest cities, notes Miyelani Holeni, Group Chief Advisor at Ntiyiso Consulting Group.
"In Gauteng those three metros, the cities of Tshwane, Joburg and Ekurhuleni are the big powerhouses traditionally."
"There are poor people still living in those cities, so there has to be a good balancing act between making sure the cuts are not just academic, but they also take in to account how the realities of those that are more affluent and those that are poor, especially the indigents."
Miyelani Holeni, Group Chief Advisor - Ntiyiso Consulting Group
Holeni believes it's necessary, in view of the shortcomings of Census 2022, to also consider other relevant factors and numbers.
"We're aware of the inequality that exists in South Africa, we know the poverty rates and we have the unemployment numbers... so it's not just the one set of numbers that must be considered above all of the other statistics."
"I think the arguments that must have ensued in the Committee is 'look at all the different factors that would help you to derive and triangulate a figure that becomes at least bearable to support the poor'."
Miyelani Holeni, Group Chief Advisor - Ntiyiso Consulting Group
Scroll up to listen to Holeni's argument