South Africa plans to conduct its first-ever online population census and will use the next four weeks to test run the system before a final rollout, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) announced on Sunday.
The statistics agents said it plans to collect data for the 2021 census using digital means, with a trial run for the systems expected to run from August 10 to September 6.
During this period Stats SA would test online and telephonic data collection in a process that involve respondents completing questionnaires on their own or with the telephonic assistance of enumerators from the statistics agency.
The online census is one of the responses by the South African government to ensure that socio-economic activities are not affected by the current coronavirus pandemic which has limited face-to-face interactions among individuals.
South Africa is one of the top five countries in the world most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 553,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Sunday.
JN/APA