By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa’s population has increased to 62 million, according to results of the 2022 census, released on Tuesday.
Statistician-General, Risenga Maluleke released the latest census results at the Union Buildings on Tuesday.
Gauteng remains the most populous province with 15.1 million people, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 12.1 million, while the Northern Cape reported 1,3 million and Free State 2,9 million reported the lowest population sizes.
The results show that the female population was 31 948 745 while the male population was 30 078 757 in 2022.
50.5 million of South African’s population are black Africans, the white population has declined again in 2022.
“That is the account for 81.4 percent of the population. The coloured (population) grew to 5.1 million (and) account for 8.1 percent and the white population group accounts for 4.5 million accounting or 7.3 percent and the Indian/Asian group – 1.7 million accounting for 2.7 percent and Other, those who didn’t specify, at 200 000.”
The most spoken language is Isizulu, followed by isiXhosa, and then Afrikaans.
Maluleke says there has been a sharp increase in households in informal settlements from 20211 to 2022 to 88.5%.
Which becomes a headache for government to meet the growing demand for services, including electricity and water.
According to Stats SA, Limpopo and Eastern Cape have not improved in access to piped water.
As of February 2022 there were 55,719 homeless people, with most people in Gauteng sitting at (25,384), Western Cape (9,743), and KwaZulu-Natal (7,768). This was mainly due to joblessness.
The 2022 census was the first-ever digital census conducted in South Africa.
The information was collected via a digital questionnaire using three different modes of collection, including computed assisted personal interviews where field workers visited households and conducted the interview with a handheld device.
In addition, telephone interviews were conducted, and the public was also able to complete the questionnaire over the internet.
The collection of the population and housing data started on 2 February 2022 and ended in May 2022.
Statistics SA received more than 20 million questionnaires from households, which formed the basis of the population and housing statistics.