Census 2011: South Africans voting with their feet

The DA welcomes the release of the 2011 Census results which show improvements in a number of key areas. The census deserves to be studied in some detail by all South Africans with an interest in the state of our nation.

What is immediately clear is that South Africans are voting with their feet.

Hundreds of thousands of South Africans are migrating away from areas where service delivery is poor and job prospects are few. In the last 10 years, 278 261 and 152 857 people left the Eastern Cape and Limpopo respectively. 

There have been some commendable improvements since the last census in 2001. Average annual household income has increased and there are fewer people that have never been to school. These are welcome developments.

But there are still millions of poor South Africans who remain without access to piped water, flush toilets, electricity and refuse removal. Many of them still live in areas where government is dysfunctional and service delivery non-existent.

Where it is in government, the DA is working hard to improve service delivery step-by-step. We will continue doing whatever it takes to deliver the better life our people were promised over a decade ago.

Statement issued by Mmusi Maimane, DA National Spokesperson, October 30 2012

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