Department Of Labour Statistics South Africa

To provide for a Statistician-General as head of Statistics South Africa, who is responsible for the collection, production and dissemination of official and other statistics, including the conducting of a census of the population, and for co-ordination among producers of statistics; to establish a Statistics Council and provide for its functions; to repeal certain legislation; and to provide for connected matters.

Purpose of Act

2. The purpose of this Act is to advance the planning, production, analysis, documentation, storage, dissemination, and use of official and other statistics by providing for—
(a) a Statistician-General as head of Statistics South Africa and for a Council;
(b) the respective functions of the Statistician-General, the Council and the Minister and their interrelations;
(c) co-ordination between Statistics South Africa and other organs of state that produce official or other statistics;
(d) co-operation between the producers of official statistics and—
(i) the users of such and other statistics in the government, other sectors of society, and the public at large;
(ii) the respondents supplying the information that results in official and other statistics;
(e) liaison with international and regional organizations that—
(i) request official statistics;
(ii) make recommendations about the standardization, classification, collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of statistics.

Purpose of official statistics, and statistical principles

3. (1) The purpose of official statistics is to assist organs of state, businesses, other organisations, or the public in—
(a) planning;
(b) decision-making or other actions;
(c) monitoring or assessment of policies, decision-making or other actions.
(2) Official statistics must protect the confidentiality of the identity of, and the information provided by, respondents and be—
(a) relevant, accurate, reliable and timeous;
(b) objective and comprehensive;
(c) compiled, reported and documented in a scientific and transparent manner;
(d) disseminated impartially;
(e) accessible;
(f) in accordance with appropriate national and international standards and classifications; and
(g) sensitive to distribution by gender, disability, region and similar socio-economic features.

Status of Statistics South Africa

4. (1) Statistics South Africa referred to as an organisational component in the first column of Schedule 2 to the Public Service Act and for the purposes of the application of that Act, in terms of section 7(4)(a) of that Act, regarded to be a department—
(a) continues as such; and
(b) consists of the Statistician-General and the permanent and temporary staff referred to in section 7(3)(a) of this Act.
(2) Subject to the Minister’s duties and powers referred to in section 5, no person or organ of state may interfere with the functioning of Statistics South Africa.
(3) For the purpose of ensuring the effectiveness of Statistics South Africa, all other organs of state must assist it in accordance with the principles of co-operative government and intergovernmental relations contemplated in Chapter 3 of the Constitution.