Response to Moultrie and Dorrington (2024): ‘Problems and concerns with the 2022 South African census’

Statistics South Africa welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Commentary entitled 'Problems and concerns with the 2022 South African census'.1 The population and housing census (henceforth referred to as 'Census') takes place in South Africa every 10 years and represents a rich source of statistical information that is designed to guide planning and policy development as well as to guide sampling design for the next inter-censal period. Contrary to previous censuses in South Africa, the 2022 Census2 was South Africa's first digital census. A multi-modal approach was taken by collecting data using Computer Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI), Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) as well as in person with a digital data collection instrument, Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI), and data collection hinged on a geographic digital frame. Whilst all censuses were de facto, including Census 2022, the 2022 Census enumeration period extended over a 4-month period from February to May 2022. Stats SA, and by extension the Census, was not spared from the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic.