2 June 2025

Delivered by: Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Ms T Mgweba.

Honourable House Chairperson, Honourable Members, Fellow South Africans,

On behalf of the Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, I rise to table the Committee’s Report on the Strategic Plan (2025/26–2029/30), the Annual Performance Plan for 2025/26, and the Budget Allocation for Vote 14: Statistics South Africa.

Honourable Members, the 2025 State of the Nation Address reiterated our country’s most pressing imperative: to grow the economy, create jobs, and improve the lives of all South Africans. Achieving this vision, as set out in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 and the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) 2025–2030, requires a capable state that is underpinned by credible, disaggregated, and timely data.

This does not only require statistics South Africa to have the capacity to produce credible statistical outputs but the whole statistics ecosystem  who also produce stats as they also have an impact on Stats SA.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) plays a central role in producing  official statistics that inform evidence-based decision-making which enables government, to monitor service delivery, and enable accountability across all spheres of government. Statistical data, is a critical element for all organisations for whether for objectives that are economic, political or social.

In this context, the Committee welcomed the strategic focus of the entity, which includes the following priorities over the medium term:

• Sustaining the quality of national indicators;
• Driving statistical reform and coordination through the National Statistics System;
• Modernising the department’s business operating model, including digital transformation; and
• Implementing the redesigned Continuous Population Survey to improve frequency and depth of household-level data.

The department has been allocated R2.77 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, representing a moderate increase from the previous year. 65.7% of the budget vote allocation is for compensation of employees, reflecting the department’s technical nature. The Committee notes that while this allocation allows Stats SA to fund its average staff complement of 2,504 posts, the department continues to face significant vacancy pressures due to fiscal constraints

Honourable Members, the Committee raised several key concerns during its deliberations:

Firstly, the high vacancy rate and the loss of skilled personal to various domestic and international organisations and urge the department to have a timely process of filling executive management and specialist vacancies.

Secondly, the Committee is concerned about the department’s inability to meet equity targets, particularly regarding the representation of persons with disabilities and women in senior roles. This is not only a compliance issue but also a transformation imperative aligned with the NDP’s goals.

Thirdly, the Committee noted the department’s shortfall of approximately R300 million, which hinders its ability to fully implement its strategic priorities, particularly digital transformation and the modernisation of statistical infrastructure. Digital innovation has an impact on the cost of the production of statistical data which can enable the entity to produce more outputs.

Fourth, while the department is investing in innovation, including digital tools and alternative data sources, the Committee found a lack of clarity on how the impact of these innovations will be measured and how they will contribute to improved statistical output.

In light of these issues, the Committee recommends that the Minister ensure that :

1. Stats SA must institutionalise the census within a 10-year cycle to ensure continuity and comparability in population data, which is critical for NDP and MTDP monitoring. The census has critical implications for government planning and fiscal allocations. We are in a period with high levels of internal migration. This requires a mechanism to assess populations trends within a 10 year period.
2. The department must accelerate the development and rollout of digital platforms and tools to enhance the collection, processing, and dissemination of data, including forming partnerships with other state agencies and the private sector. This must strengthen the development of statistical units in state organs.
3. In order to enhance the capability and capacity of Statistics South Africa, we believe the National Treasury should allocate more funds for the vote in the medium term for its human capital strategy and digital transformation agenda to enable the entity to increase its impact, which will be positive for the overall economy and society.
4. A precise results-based monitoring and evaluation framework must be adopted to track the implementation and impact of statistical innovations, particularly within the Continuous Population Survey and modernisation initiatives.

Honourable Members, the work of Stats SA goes beyond data; it speaks to the credibility of our democracy and the integrity of our national planning architecture. The information produced by this institution is critical for monitoring progress on poverty reduction, inequality, employment, gender equity, and the realisation of Sustainable Development Goals and Africa Agenda 2063.

Without data, we cannot track implementation. Without reliable statistics, there is no accountability. And without investment in Stats SA, we risk undermining the very foundation of evidence-based policy and oversight.

It is for these reasons that the Committee supports the adoption of the Budget Vote 14 allocation.

I thank you.