Information collected by Statistics SA is presented at different levels of geography.
For example, data from some of the economic series are published for each of the provinces, while other economic statistics are provided only for the country as a whole.
Household-based surveys, such as the labour force survey, the general household survey and the income and expenditure survey generally provided data for each of the nine provinces, as well as the country as a whole.
Population censuses, such as the ones held in 1996 and 2001, gather information for much smaller areas, including municipalities, and even suburbs in some cases.
The central factor determining the geographical level at which data are presented is the size of the sample for the survey.
In South Africa, a sample of about 30 000 households allows for provincial and national information to be published.
A population census, on the other hand, by definition aims to enumerate the whole population. This allows for information to be attached to far smaller geographical levels, such as towns and villages.
Some users of statistics, however, require data at municipal level between population censuses, and Stats SA has long considered how best to provide this.
Some statistical agencies are able to use administrative records to gather information.
However, in South Africa these sorts of records cannot be used to provide information at the municipal level.
In particular, geographic referencing on these records is not consistent and compatible with Stats SA geographic frame. Thus it is difficult to use to attach information to specific municipalities.
In some countries, a combination of the population register and household sample surveys is used to obtain municipal-level data between censuses.
However, the current South African population register does not record all non-citizens in the country; does not allow for geographical analysis; and does not include some important demographic characteristics, such as population group, place of birth or place of residence.
The records of addresses are not regularly updated.
In some cases, only postal addresses are recorded, which further limits attachment of information obtained to geographical area.
In the absence of viable alterative sources of data for use between population censuses, Stats SA has introduced a community survey, its second-largest undertaking after the population census.
The survey, which goes to field in February next year, will collect information from about 280 000 households and profile households, disability, fertility and mortality, education, the expanded public works programme, economic activity and access to service delivery.
Critically, the community survey will provide information at municipal level.
Planning the sample for this massive undertaking has been a complex exercise.
The country has been divided up into about 80 000 patches of land, known as enumerator areas, each of which is attached to one of the country's municipalities.
Systematic simple random sampling procedure was used to select the enumerator areas.
The areas within each municipality were ordered by type (farm, hostel, industrial area, informal settlement, smallholding, tribal settlement, urban settlement, or vacant land). They were then further differentiated by geographic type (rural formal, tribal area, urban formal and urban informal).
For those municipalities with more than 30 enumerator areas, the sample selection used a fixed proportion of 19 percent of the total number of areas.
The selection of the subsample will be based on a fixed proportion of 10 percent.
All households within the selected dwelling units are covered.
Although the community survey is based on a sample, the nature and size of the sample, as well as the sophisticated methodology employed to create it, will enable key information to be attached to each of South Africa's municipalities. This is the central data concern of legislators, policy makers, administrators and those who measure and monitor developments in South Africa's communities.