[Section 14 heading substituted by section 8(a) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (1) | Despite any other law— |
| (b) | no organ of state may undertake a new statistical collection or substantially vary or discontinue any statistical collection-- |
except with the approval of the Minister given in accordance with subsection (2), provided that in the case of any state institution referred to in section 181(1) of the Constitution, the state institution does not require the Minister's approval, but it must consult with the Minister, who must be advised by the Statistician-General.
| (2) | The Minister may only grant the approval referred-to in subsection (1)— |
| (a) | on the advice of the Statistician-General; and |
| (b) | after consultation with the head of the organ of state concerned. |
| (3) | If so advised by the Statistician-General, the Minister may, subject to such conditions as the Minister determines, stipulate that the provisions of subsection (1) do not apply to any specific organ of state in any specific instance or class of instances. |
| (5) | As soon as possible after— |
| (a) | the inception, variation or discontinuance of any statistical collection requiring approval in terms of subsection (1) is proposed; or |
| (b) | any document used in such collection is prepared, |
the head of the organ of state concerned must inform the Statistician-General accordingly.
| (6) | The Statistician-General may advise entities within the NSS regarding the application of appropriate quality criteria and standards, classifications and procedures for statistics— |
[Words preceding section 14(6)(a) substituted by section 8(b) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (a) | to improve the quality of statistics; |
| (b) | to enhance the comparability of statistics; |
| (c) | to minimise unnecessary overlapping or duplication with the collection or publication of statistics in that organ of state or by other organs of state. |
(7)
| (a) | The Statistician-General may designate as official statistics any statistics or class of statistics produced from statistical collections by— |
| (i) | Statistics South Africa; or |
| (ii) | other organs of state, after consultation with the head of the organ of state concerned. |
| (b) | Such designation must be in accordance with— |
| (i) | the purpose of official statistics and the statistical principles contemplated in section 3; and |
| (ii) | such other statistical criteria as the Statistician-General may determine by notice in the Gazette. |
| (8) | The Statistician-General may— |
| (a) | at his or her own instance or at the request of the Council, the Minister or any other Minister, review and comment on the production, analysis, documentation, storage, dissemination, interpretation and use of official or other statistics of any other organ of state; and |
| (b) | after consultation with the head of that organ of state, publish any such statistics and comments thereon as he or she considers necessary or appropriate. |
| (9) | For the purposes of assisting the Statistician-General in the performance of his or her duties imposed by this Act, the head of any other organ of state must, subject to subsection (10)— |
| (a) | within a reasonable period, supply the Statistician-General with information he or she may request regarding any official or other statistics for which that organ of state is responsible; |
| (b) | advise the Statistician-General from time to time of any substantial changes in the information that has been so supplied; |
| (c) | grant the Statistician-General or any officer of Statistics South Africa authorised by him or her unhindered access, without charge, to such information or data of that organ of state as the Statistician-General requests; and |
| (d) | allow the Statistician-General or any officer of Statistics South Africa authorised by him or her to copy, without charge, any information or data which may be used in producing official statistics. |
| (10) | The Statistician-General may, subject to such conditions as he or she determines, stipulate that any provision of subsection (9)(a) or (b) does not apply to any specific organ of state in any specific instance or class of instances. |
| (11) | Subject to subsection (12), the Statistician-General may enter into an agreement with— |
| (a) | the head of another organ of state in respect of information or data which the latter has the authority to collect; |
| (b) | any body other than an organ of state engaged in collecting such information or data. |
| (12) | The agreement referred to in subsection (11) is subject to the following conditions: |
| (a) | The collection of such information or data must be undertaken either by Statistics South Africa or jointly by Statistics South Africa and that organ of state or body; |
| (b) | the resulting statistics or information must subject to paragraph (c) and section 17(3) be exchanged between the parties or shared with the other party; |
| (c) | if information has been supplied by any respondent who gives notice in writing to the Statistician-General that he or she objects to the exchange or sharing of that information by the parties, that information may not be so exchanged or shared; |
| (d) | every employee within the organ of state or body who is engaged in any such joint collection or to whom such statistics or information is made available, must take an oath of confidentiality similar to that provided for in section 17(7)(a), whether or not he or she has taken an oath of confidentiality in terms of any other law. |
| (13) | In order to promote statistical co-ordination among entities within the NSS, the Statistician-General must— |
| (a) | develop and implement a statistical system for the NSS; and |
| (b) | develop and implement a National Strategy for the Development of Statistics. |
[Section 14(13) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (14) | The purpose of the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics is to— |
| (a) | develop statistical capacity within Statistics South Africa and other entities within the NSS in the form of skills and infrastructure for official statistics in order to support— |
| (i) | the monitoring and evaluation programme of the national and sector statistics strategies; |
| (ii) | planning and decision-making in the three spheres of government and other organs of state; |
| (iii) | the meeting of national, international and other reporting obligations of the state; and |
| (iv) | the building of statistical capacity in the form of statistics units within organs of state; |
| (b) | provide a strategic framework for developing appropriate forms of, and uses for, statistics; |
| (c) | develop an overall vision for the development of the NSS; |
| (d) | develop a comprehensive framework for continual assessment of evolving user needs and priorities for statistics and for building the capacity needed to meet those needs; |
| (e) | provide a framework for mobilising and managing resources nationally and internationally; and |
| (f) | provide a basis for the effective and strategic management of the NSS. |
[Section 14(14) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (15) | The Statistician-General must, in order to promote the functions and objectives of the NSS, establish, oversee and co-ordinate the activities of the following structures: |
| (a) | A committee, comprising representatives of Statistics South Africa, other entities within the NSS and other stakeholders who may be appointed by the Statistician-General, which must be responsible for overseeing the co-ordination of statistical projects in the NSS, with specific reference to statistical production by entities within the NSS and the measurable development outcomes of government; |
| (b) | working groups, comprising technical experts in data handling and analysis from various entities within the NSS, which must be responsible for assembling and validating data on a sectoral basis for all national and international statistical reporting, with specific reference to statistical production by entities within the NSS and the measurable development outcomes of government; |
| (c) | a secretariat, to be provided from the resources of Statistics South Africa, which must be responsible for co-ordinating the operations of the NSS in relation to its administrative, documentation and other service needs; |
| (d) | stakeholder fora, comprising representatives of Statistics South Africa and other organs of state, international agencies, business, organised labour and civil society, at national, provincial and local levels, which must provide a mechanism for discussing issues, concerns and new developments in official statistics and must facilitate dialogue in relation to the proposed direction of statistical development and production, nationally; |
| (e) | a Statistical Clearing House, the composition of which must be determined by the Statistician-General, who must appoint its members and the purpose of which is to— |
| (i) | rationalise surveys being undertaken by various organs of state or entities within the NSS in order to remove duplication; |
| (ii) | utilise a national catalogue or inventory of data sources for producing official and other statistics; |
| (iii) | make recommendations to the Statistician-General regarding new statistical collections, variations and discontinuance of existing undertakings; and |
| (f) | a state-wide statistics service, which comprises of officials from Statistics South Africa and other entities within the NSS responsible for collection, processing, analysis, storage and dissemination of statistics. |
[Section 14(15) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (16) | The Statistician-General must develop a code of ethics or conduct for professionals and others involved in the production of statistics within the NSS. |
[Section 14(16) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (17) | The Statistician-General must establish and maintain a statistical training programme to enhance statistical capacity in the NSS. |
[Section 14(17) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (18) | The Statistician-General must develop protocols for access to, and data sharing amongst, entities within the NSS. |
[Section 14(18) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (19) | Statistical data produced by an organ of state for the purpose of formulating policy or for public consumption, must be produced by that organ of state— |
| (a) | in accordance with the provisions of this Act; and |
| (b) | in a manner and form aimed at ensuring the attainment of the objectives of the Act contemplated in section 2(c) and (d). |
[Section 14(19) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
(20)
| (a) | Entities within the NSS must produce, or be involved in the production of, official statistics or statistics which may potentially be designated as official statistics and must participate in the development and implementation of the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics and the NSS. |
| (b) | The Statistician-General must provide such entities with assistance, facilitation and co-ordination as may reasonably be required for that purpose. |
[Section 14(20) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (21) | An organ of state required to produce, or to be involved in the production of, official statistics or statistics which may potentially be designated as official statistics, must establish a statistics unit within such organ of state, which unit must— |
| (a) | be established using the resources of that organ of state; |
| (b) | be headed by an official appointed by the accounting officer or head of such organ of state, in consultation with the Statistician-General, who must possess the necessary level of seniority to enable access to, and to advise the accounting officer or head of such organ of state in relation to, the issues for which such unit is responsible; |
| (c) | be a unit operationally independent of, and not subject to the control of, or interference by, other operational units or components within such organ of state; |
| (d) | be established in accordance with the guidance of the Statistician-General; |
| (e) | be responsible for ensuring that— |
| (i) | the production and handling of data within such organ of state complies with the SASQAF and other standards and guidelines as may be determined from time to time by the Statistician-General; and |
| (ii) | the protocol for the release of official statistics determined from time to time by Statistics South Africa, the United Nations Principles of Official Statistics and the African Charter on Statistics, conforms to relevant regional, continental and global frameworks governing the production and use of statistics; and |
| (f) | in relation to administrative and employment issues and its work programme, be accountable to the accounting authority of such organ of state and must, in relation to professional standards for the production and handling of data and statistics within that organ of state, act in accordance with the guidance of the Statistician-General. |
[Section 14(21) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (a) | must comply with all standards for the production of official statistics issued from time to time by the Statistician-General; |
| (b) | must, in relation to official statistics or statistics which may potentially be designated as official statistics which that entity produces from registers, administrative records or lists, or surveys, ensure that they comply with the requirements of the SASQAF determined by the Statistician-General; and |
| (c) | may seek technical support and advice from Statistics South Africa in relation to the development of registers and the execution of surveys and compliance with the SASQAF. |
[Section 14(22) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (23) | Entities within the NSS involved in the production of statistics must take all reasonable and expeditious steps, through proper planning, reporting, scheduling and other appropriate means, to seek the timeous designation of their statistics by the Statistician-General as official statistics under subsection (7). |
[Section 14(23) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (24) | The Cabinet, the Minister or other Ministers, the Forum of South African Directors-General or a cluster of that Forum, may decide that data collected or in the process of being collected by a particular entity within the NSS, must be prioritised for consideration by the Statistician-General, to be designated as official statistics. |
[Section 14(24) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (25) | In the case of data contemplated in subsection (24), the entity within the NSS must ensure that the statistical data is finalised for purposes of being assessed for such designation within a period not exceeding three years from the date on which, such entity within the NSS, is informed of the decision to prioritise such data for designation as official statistics. |
[Section 14(25) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (26) | For the purposes of designating data produced by Statistics South Africa or any entity within the NSS as official statistics, the Statistician-General must constitute data quality assessment teams to undertake independent audits or assessments of statistics of such data against quality criteria provided by the SASQAF. |
[Section 14(26) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (27) | Data series submitted for consideration that comply with the criteria of the SASQAF, must be certified as official statistics by the Statistician-General. |
[Section 14(27) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (28) | In the event that any data series submitted for consideration do not comply with the criteria of the SASQAF, the relevant entity within the NSS must, with the support to be provided by Statistics South Africa, draw up and implement a statistical improvement plan with a view to improve the quality of such data series to meet the criteria determined for designation as official statistics. |
[Section 14(28) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (29) | The Statistician-General must periodically, at such times as he or she may determine, through the data quality assessment teams, review the quality of data series that have already been designated as official statistics, to determine whether they have maintained their status as such, failing which their designation as official statistics may be terminated by the Statistician-General or may be continued, subject to such conditions as may be determined by the Statistician-General. |
[Section 14(29) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
| (30) | Organs of state must— |
| (a) | on an annual basis, submit statistical plans to the Statistician-General for his or her consideration and approval; |
| (b) | ensure that their statistical plans are aligned with national, regional, continental, international and other reporting requirements; and |
| (c) | submit annual reports on their statistical collection programmes and activities to the Statistician-General for the purposes of review, to determine the need for possible support by Statistics South Africa and to decide whether the report must be tabled by the Minister in Parliament. |
[Section 14(30) inserted by section 8(c) of the Statistics Amendment Act 29 of 2024, Notice No. 5724 of GG51805, dated 20 December 2024 – effective 1 October 2025 per Commencement Proclamation Notice 6692, GG53452, dated 30 September 2025]
