Stats Mass exodus in SA: World Bank and IMF poach staff amid budget cuts

Parliament heard how staff, from junior staff to senior managers, were leaving Stats SA en masse.

The civil service department, which is responsible for monitoring and reporting the demographic and economic situation of the population, faces major budget cuts after the widely acknowledged failed 2022 census, while those in the administration have failed to specify the main reasons for the migration.

Instead, Deputy Secretary of the Presidency Kenneth Morolong, when asked, cited statistics on how employees leave rather than why they leave.

He replaced Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni when answering questions at the National Assembly Plenary on Thursday.

Watch the plenary session below:

Stats SA’s fundamentally flawed 2022 Census

In July, Stats SA argued that data collection standards in the 2022 Census were met despite the clear anomalies noted above. University of Cape Town demographers describe the 2022 Census as “an undesirable record, the highest undercount.”

This is called “transvestite” and “it is not fit for purpose and Stats SA has vocally defended it”.

The following month, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) admitted that valuable data collected from the 2022 Census was fundamentally flawed and not of good enough quality to be made available for official or public use.

This led to widespread criticism from experts, civil organizations and political parties.

Stats SA later published a updated version from publication 2022 Census in briefWe now exclude income and earnings, labor and employment, and mortality and fertility.

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One third of departing staff resigned

Siyabonga Gama of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party pointed out that Stats SA faces stiff competition and critical human resources are being depleted due to poaching from multilateral organizations and banks.

“(This) results in a large vacancy rate at Stats SA, which could hamper its ability to fulfill its mandate in the future. (Minister Ntshavheni) What did Stats SA find are the top reasons cited by employees for leaving the organisation?”

Morolong said Stats SA responded by looking at the reasons for the staff loss.

“Between 2021 and 2024, 10% of our employees left Stats SA as a result of death. During the same period, we had a rate of 33 percent due to resignation. “During the same period, 28% of our contracts expired.”

He said 2 percent of those who left were fired for misconduct. The rate of those discharged due to ill health was 1.9%. The retirement rate was 19.6%, and the transition to other public service units was 5.2%.

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Budget cuts at Stats SA could impact report production in the long term

In response, Gama asked the deputy minister to answer the question about the reasons why employees choose to leave, rather than reporting statistics on vacancies.

He also asked what impact budget cuts were having at Stats SA at a time when senior executives were being poached by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

In his response, Morolong said Stats SA’s work was critical to the collection, production and dissemination of statistical data. He said that this data helps the country in decision-making processes.

“Budget cuts have huge impacts because Stats SA produces more than 1,250 social, economic and population reports.”

Budget cuts have affected the department’s ability to produce those reports, he said.

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