Chairperson, as the joke goes, it takes a very confrontational politician to turn statistics into something debatable or controversial. I will try not to be such a person! [Laughter.] I share entirely all that has been said and I do not want to repeat it.
Statistics are important to manage the country. We all need to make a personal contribution to ensure that people realise that and participate in the census. That is all fine. But we are spending R3,24 billion in conducting the census. Then we are moving up to R1,6 billion the next year, and R1,7 billion the following year. We have got R400 million for corporate relations, which will increase to R437 million, and skyrocket to R466 million in corporate relations. Now, this is real money! What are we doing with this real money?
There are two separately identifiable tasks. There is the scientific task of identifying indicators, questions and relevant information to be sought. That also includes the subsequent task of analysing that information, which is crunching the numbers and conducting the type of analytical activity that the hon George was referring to. That is one type of a task which Stats SA is uniquely qualified to perform and they alone can conduct.
Then there is a separate task, which is that of actually collecting the information. It happens once every 10 years. A special of effort is made. A special infrastructure is constructed for this specific purpose only. Once it is established, and it has performed its task, it is disbanded. That infrastructure requires management capacity, which must reside in Stats SA permanently, so that when the job comes to pass again they can re-establish what was then done.
So, the question that arises is why don't we look at internalising these types of skills within the fabrics of government? I accept the difficulty of the argument of independence. But each ward, each local government structure at local level, and each regional local government structure has the obligation of governing the territory, with the awareness of what the numbers are in the territories.
This is a function that could be placed within civil protection. This is a function that could be placed within local government. Then there would be enough capacity within Stats SA today to create indicators; and to make sure that the foreseeable abuses militating against the argument of locating it there - such as people inflating numbers to get more benefits from government - can be looked at, with adequate corrective and spot checks. That is the first point.
The second point - the hon George also raised it - is in respect of the oversight function of Parliament with regard to Stats SA. It needs to be said here that this is really a crucial issue. We, as a Parliament, who do not exercise sufficient oversight over the Presidency as such, where ... [Interjections.]