RESPONSE TO MISLEADING COMMUNIQUE ON CENSUS 2011

Sorry for the shouting in the title above. The perils of cut and paste.

I thought that I’d share this info with my South African readers who may or may not (this being SA) be aware that the 2011 Census began today. And it seems that there may be some confusion over who will be dropping in at your house to hand over your census forms.

Since early August, a company called SMC (Security Management Consultants) has been circulating a communiqué giving information on what to expect from census officials. This communiqué is based on a document relating to the 2010 Census conducted by the US Census Bureau, and contains a number of misleading facts, which in no way relates to the census being conducted in South Africa.

Like I said – the perils of cut and paste… Anyway:

The company concerned has since retracted this document; however, as it is still in circulation, Stats SA would hereby like to inform the public what they should expect.
Stats SA, as a government department, is the only agency mandated to conduct the census, under the auspices of the Statistics Act (Act no 6 of 1999). Stats SA fieldworkers will be in your area from 10 – 31 October 2011, going door-to-door to conduct interviews.

Census officials can be identified as follows:

1) A yellow satchel with the Census and Stats SA logos
2) An A3-size book with a map of the area on the first page
3) A yellow bib with the Census and Stats SA logo
4) A black cap with the Stats SA logo
5) An ID card with a hologram of the Census 2011 logo (SA map with the words “You Count” below it).

These persons can be verified by calling 0800 110 248 or 080 236 787 2, which is toll-free from a landline.

They shouldn’t ask you for your ID number or banking details:

If anyone comes to your door claiming to be a census official and asks you for information such as your ID number, banking details, etc. they are not part of the census process and should be turned away immediately.

but they may ask you for your phone number:

Enumerators may ask you for your telephone number; this is for quality check purposes only e.g. if the questionnaire shows that there is a 5-year-old in your household with a PhD, it will be easier to contact the household telephonically than to do a physical return visit to the household.

They’ve obviously never met my genius 5-year-old son…

Additionally, you can keep up to date with the latest Census 2011 news on the web, on Facebook or on Twitter. They also have a “very useful” Know Your Fieldworker tool, which didn’t work for me.

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