Statistics SA will release the first set of Census 2001 results online today in conjunction with the launch event in Pretoria, where the results will be presented to President Thabo Mbeki.
Mandisi Titi, manager of the National Statistics System, says although the results of the first census in 1996 were displayed online, this was only done after the release of the results and only some of the results were made available online.
"This time there will be a much greater release of information online. The more general information, including the number of people by race, province, income and so on, will be available today on the Stats SA Web site from 3pm. The more specialised information will be available next week.
"That information will be data viewed through interactive Web-based products that will allow users to access and cross-tabulate individual and household variables for the country as a whole, each province, each municipality, village and suburb."
Titi says a range of other products derived from census data has been carefully designed to meet various user needs - from individual citizens to researchers. These products include books, posters and CD-ROMs containing software-selectable tables and maps that can be customised by the user.
The process of data capture and analysis was a long and involved one, says Titi. Over 10 million questionnaires, each 12 pages in length and containing 74 questions and answers, were completed. The questionnaires then went to four Stats SA data processing centres in Pretoria, where the data was captured and entered into databases to supply the information for release of Census 2001 via books, CD-ROMs and the Web site.
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