Household report shows improvements, challenges

The General Household Survey (GHS) 2012 report shows an increase in the number of households who had access to piped water, sanitation, and electricity, among others.

The report provides analysis and tracks key service delivery aspects, including housing, access to electricity and household income.

According to the report, the percentage of individuals that benefited from social grants increased from 12.7% in 2003 to 29.6% in 2012. "The percentage of households that received at least one grant increased from 29.9% in 2003 to 45.3% in 2009 before declining slightly to 43.6% in 2012," noted the report. According to the report 39.5% of households said social grants were their main source of income.

Nationally 74.1% of people aged 7 to 24-years-old were found to be attending educational institutions. Presenting the finding of the report which was carried out between July and September last year - Deputy Director General: Population and Social Statistics Kefiloe Masiteng at Stats SA said a lack of money for fees remains the primary reason for a large number of people in this age group not studying.

At the same time "No fee schools" that have been introduced by government are starting to show effect. "The percentage of learners who reported that they paid no tuition fees increased from 0.8% in 2002 to 56.8% in 2012," noted the report. The provinces with the highest proportion of non-payers were Limpopo at 88.8% and the Eastern Cape at 73.5%.

Poor state of public health reflected in satisfaction levels

The survey also showed that more than 71% of South Africans usually visit public clinics and hospitals when they need medical care. However, only 79.2% of patients using public health care facilities were satisfied with the services they received compared to 97.1% of users of private health care facilities.

With regard to energy, the percentage of households connected to the main electricity supply has increased from 77.1% in 2002 to 85% in 2012.

In 2012, 90.8% of South African households had access to piped water while the percentage of households with no toilets or bucket toilets decreased from 12.3% in 2002 to 5.3% in 2012. Households in the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo were most likely to lack access to toilet facilities or to still use bucket toilets.

Nationally only 6.3% of households did not have access to either landlines or cellular phones in 2012.

The report found that salaries remained the main source of income for most households in the country.

"Nationally salaries (64.9%) and grants (39.5%) were received by the highest percentages of households," noted the report. the Western Cape and households in Gauteng were most likely to receive salaries while households in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape were most likely to receive grants than salaries.

When coming to access to food, the percentage of South African households with inadequate access to food decreased from 23.9% in 2010 to 21.5% in 2012.

The survey has been performed annually by Stats SA since 2002.