South African Statistical Journal

The statistical system in South Africa has a history of nearly 100 years, but the time to truly meet the needs of all South Africans is relatively short. The establishment of the democratic political system in 1994 provided two alternative data production organizational models for the transformation of statistics in South Africa: one was to concentrate the production of most statistical data in a single institution, the National Statistical Organization (NSO), which was then called the Central Bureau of Statistics (CSS) and later renamed the South African Bureau of Statistics (Stats SA); Another type is decentralized production of statistical data, where other departments of the country produce statistical data based on their own professional fields. The final adopted model is a product of continuous evolution.

As the national statistical agency, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is not only responsible for collecting and publishing statistical data, but also undertakes the task of coordinating the production of statistical data across various departments of the country. The promulgation of the Statistics Act (No. 6 of 1999) had a milestone significance for South African statistical production, as it stipulated that the Director of Statistics was both the administrative head of the South African Bureau of Statistics and the coordinator of production statistics for various departments of the country.