Category Archives: Uncategorized

The General Household Survey, 2021, released by Statistics South Africa, indicates that 18,8% of children lived with neither their biological parents while 33,8% lived with both parents, and 43,4% lived with their mothers. Approximately 11,5% of children were orphaned, having lost one or both parent. COVID related locked down saw, the percentage of children that attendedContinue reading “The Week 29 That Was : School Children”

Statistics SA report contains results of the 2020 non-financial census of municipalities. About 14 million households receive services from municipalities in one way or another. Sad to say that Free State and Eastern Cape provinces reported an increase in the provision of bucket toilets from 2019 to 2020. The Free State has 26 300 unitsContinue reading “The Week 28 That Was : Bucket System”

Manufacturing production decreased by 2,3% in May 2022 compared with May 2021. The index hasn’t recovered from COVID19 and Lockdown measures of 2020 (Figure 1, Volume of manufacturing production). Manufacturing is the process where machines produce goods from raw materials. Production is the process of converting resources into finished products. The largest negative contributions were madeContinue reading “The Week 27 That Was: Manufacturing Production”

Stage 4 load-shedding equates to about 4,000 MegaWatts per hour or 4 GigaWatts per hour of electricity not being available. This is about 20 % of Eskom Power Generation of about 21 GigaWatts. Stage 4 implies 4 million kettles being boiled at the same time. It would take an equivalent to nearly the full installedContinue reading “The Week 27 That Was : Stage 4 Load shedding”

The consumer price index (CPI) has for May 2022 hit 6.5% — from 5.9% in April and 5.2% in May last year. CPI is a measure of the average change overtime in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. The prices of consumer goods and services shouldContinue reading “The Week 26 That Was: Consumer Price Index”

Total income generated by the food and beverages (excluding manufacturing) industry increased by 13,6% in March 2022 compared with March 2021, according to Statistics SA. The industry came to a complete stop because of COVID19 and lockdown restrictions. The income was in the region of R3 Billion in March 2019, almost R 0 Billion inContinue reading “The Week 24 That Was: Food and Beverages Industry,”

The working-age population increased by 144 000 in the first quarter (Jan 22 – Mar 22) compared to the fourth quarter (Oct 21 – Dec 21). At the same time, 370 000 jobs were gained between in fourth quarter (Oct 21 – Dec 21). The biggest increase is in Community and Social Services (281 000),Continue reading “The Week 23 That Was : Working-Age Population”

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) registered 303,695 new claims and finalised 258,382 claims in 2019/20. Compare to 604 281 deaths for the year 2019/2020. RAF provides compulsory cover to all users of South African roads against injuries sustained or death. It is a form of indemnity insurance to persons who cause the accident. The fundContinue reading “The Week That 22 Was : Road Accidents”

Statistics South Africa released a report on civil cases for debt. In March 2022, 11 126 civil judgements for debt amounting to R257,2 million were recorded. A civil judgment is a ruling against a defendant in a court of law. It refers to a non-criminal legal matter and often requires the defendant to pay damages.Continue reading “The Week 21 That Was : Civil cases for debt”

The price of sunflower oil has been increasing since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine. The two countries are responsible for between 60% to 78% of the world’s sunflower oil supply. The global price of Sunflower Oil was 1,445.2 (Oct 2021) and now 2,250.0 (Apr 2022) (in U.S. Dollars per Metric Ton)Continue reading “The Week 20 That Was : Cooking Oil”