The General Household Survey outlines key findings on development in South Africa over the past fifteen years since the first GHS was conducted in 2002.
The GHS aims to assess the levels of development in the country as well as the extent of service delivery and the quality of services in a number of key service sectors, including health, disability, social security, housing, energy, access to and use of water and sanitation, environment, refuse removal, telecommunications, transport, household income, access to food, and agriculture.
7. Pre-school
Primary school
Secondary school
Not in education
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Almost universal school attendance in the age group 7─15 years. Noticeable
representation of learners who are older than the ideal graduation age in primary
and secondary schools. 4,2% of
Children are
not in
education at
age 15
At age 21
more learners
in Secondary
School than
University
and TVET
combined
12,2% of
Learners are
not yet in
some form of
structured
education by
age 5
TVET
University
Percentage of those aged 5 – 24 years who attend
educational institution, 2016
11. 2,8% 3,4%
12,7%
15,6%
3,3% 3,5%
18,8%
17,5%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
Black African Coloured Indian / Asian White
2002
2016
4,5% of persons aged 18 to 29 were enrolled at a higher education institution in the country in 2016
2002
2016
In 2016 the absolute NUMBERS show that Black African population
group have much higher enrolment at 335 563 persons compared to
the 119 676 White population group, however the proportions
between the time periods have remained relatively stable , deep
racial disparities persist.
Percentage of persons aged 18 to 29 attending university by population
group, 2002 and 2016
14. 8,0 M
13,2 M
1,4 M
2,3 M
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Millions
Formal dwelling type Traditional dwelling type
Informal dwelling Other dwelling type
To meet increasing need for housing, the number of
formal dwellings have increased sharply over the past
15 years. The shortfall is, however, filled by an
increased in informal dwellings.
Number of households that lived in formal, informal and traditional
dwellings
16. Declining household size, increased demand for housing and services
22,8% 24,7%
61,1% 60,7%
14,0% 12,8%
2,2% 1,8%
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
70,0%
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2-4 person households: largest single household
category, although relatively stable declining
slowly as percentage of all households
Single person household: Comprises one-
quarter of all households. Increasing share.
5-9 person
household:
Relatively small
percentage of all
households,
generally declining
share
18. Declining household size, increased demand for housing and services
Formal Backyard Informal Traditional Other
Single person 18,6% 56,1% 38,4% 20,4% 54,0%
2-4 persons 64,8% 40,9% 54,9% 54,7% 38,4%
5-9 persons 14,6% 2,5% 6,6% 19,9% 7,2%
> 10 persons 2,0% 0,5% 0,1% 5,0% 0,5%
Single person households constitute
largest percentage of inhabitants of
backyard and other dwellings, and 38%
of informal inhabitants
2-4 person households are the largest occupants across most categories, particularly formal
dwellings
19. Own and paid off Partially owned Rented Occupied rent free Other
Single person 16,1% 9,0% 40,7% 36,0% 28,7%
2-4 persons 63,2% 80,8% 55,5% 51,3% 56,5%
5-9 persons 17,8% 9,8% 3,6% 11,5% 12,9%
> 10 persons 2,9% 0,4% 0,2% 1,2% 1,9%
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
70,0%
80,0%
90,0%
Tenure status
Single person households concentrated in rental properties, or properties which can
be occupied rent-free. Larger families, particularly historical nuclear family, mostly
live in fully of partially owned properties.
23. 33,2%
6,5%
11,2%
4,2%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Nationally, the percentage of households that continued to live without proper sanitation
facilities had been declining consistently between 2002 and 2016, decreasing from 12,3% to 4,2%
during this period.
Percentage of households by province, that have no toilet facility or were using a
bucket toilet, 2003 - 2016
EC
The most rapid decline over this
period was observed in Eastern Cape
(-30,3 percentage points)