South Africa grows to 44.8-million
9 July 2003
South Africa's population grew from 40.5-million people in October 1996 to 44.8-million people in October 2001, the census 2001 results show.
Releasing the census 2001 figures in Pretoria on Tuesday, Ros Hirschowitz, director-general of quality and methodology at Statistics South Africa, said there was 95% confidence that the proportional number of between 44 427 683 and 45 211 872 was accurate with a 0.9% margin of error.
Black Africans constitute more than three-quarters of South Africa's total population with 79% or 35.4-million, while whites make up 9.6% (4.3-million), coloureds 8.9% (4-million), and Indians/Asians 2.5% (1.1-million).
Black Africans are in the vast majority in all provinces except the Western Cape (at 26.7%) and Northern Cape (35.7%). Coloured people are in the majority in these two provinces, with 53.9% in the Western Cape and 51.6% in Northern Cape.
Of the total 44.8-million people, 21.4-million (47.8%) are male
and 23.4-million (52.2%) female.
The number of South African households also grew to 11.2-million in October 2001 compared to nine million in 1996. Statistician-General Pali Lehohla said, however, that this figure did not include individuals living in institutions, hostels or other living quarters.
According to the report, Gauteng province experienced the largest population growth between 1996 and 2001 with 20%, followed by the Western Cape with 14%. The Eastern Cape and Free State each experienced growth of less than 3%, while the Northern Cape had a 2.1% drop in population.
In terms of population numbers, KwaZulu-Natal province has the largest population with 9.4-million people, followed by Gauteng with 8.8-million, while the Northern Cape, with 800 000 people, is the province with the smallest population.
The Eastern Cape has a population of 6.4-million, Limpopo 5.3-million, the Western Cape 4.5-million, North West 3.7-million, Mpumalanga 3.1-million and the
Free State 2.7-million.
Less English, Afrikaans
Fewer South Africans speak English and Afrikaans in their homes, with indigenous languages, particularly isiZulu and isiXhosa, being the dominant home languages of the population.
According to census 2001, Afrikaans is spoken as a first language by only 13.3% of the population. The majority of Afrikaans speakers live in the Northern Cape (68%), followed by the Western Cape (55.3%), Gauteng (14.4%), Free State (11.9%), Eastern Cape (9.3%), North West (7.5%), Mpumalanga (6.2%), Limpopo (2.3%) and KwaZulu-Natal (1.5%).
English, according to the report, is spoken at home by 3 673 203 people or 8.2% of South Africans. The Western Cape leads the English-speaking provinces with 19.3% of its population speaking English at home, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 13.6% and Gauteng with 12.5%.
Nearly a quarter of the population have isiZulu as their home language. Of the 10 677 305 isiZulu
speakers, 7 624 284 live in KwaZulu-Natal, 1 902 025 in Gauteng, 822 934 in Mpumalanga, 138 091 in the Free State, and 92 288 in North West. The Eastern Cape is home to 51 434 isiZulu speakers, while 34 358 reside in Limpopo, 9 166 in the Western Cape, and 2 724 in the Northern Cape.
Although isiXhosa has dropped slightly as a home language since 1996, it remains the second most widely spoken language in the country, the mother tongue of 7 907 153 South Africans.
The majority of isiXhosa speakers live in the Eastern Cape (5 369 672), followed by the Western Cape (1 073 951), Gauteng (671 045), the Free State (246 192), KwaZulu-Natal (219 826), North West (214 461), Mpumalanga (46 553), the Northern Cape (51 228), and Limpopo (14 225).
Receiving the report, President Thabo Mbeki said the census results should help the country plan better in order to further improve the quality of life of all South Africans, and urged decision-makers at all levels of society to use
the report to measure the progress of their various development programmes.
"Census 2001 has empowered the country to move further forward," Mbeki said, adding that the facts emerging from the census told an interesting story about South Africa. "The information says we are not standing still; we are going somewhere. We must continue to take this critical look at ourselves."
Source: BuaNews
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