With South Africa’s government forced to review its budget due to the pandemic, an already cash-strapped Stats SA has had to cut a vital poverty and income survey. We should all be worried.
Tag: statistics
Are 40% of South African women raped in their lifetime and only 8.6% of perpetrators jailed?
Claims
Two claims about rape statistics in South Africa
Source: Advocacy organisation Rape Crisis (February 2020)
checked
Verdict
One unproven, one misleading
Is Nigeria’s unemployment rate 18.8%, as widely tweeted?
Claim
"Nigeria's unemployment rate is 18.8%"
Source:
Tweet by Spectator Index account
(Feb 2018)
correct
Verdict
Rate was 18.8% in 2017's 3rd quarter
Factsheet: FACTSHEET: South Africa’s official poverty numbers
What proportion of South Africans live in poverty? How are the numbers calculated? And who is most vulnerable? This factsheet presents South Africa’s official poverty estimates.
checked
Do mothers & newborns run a higher risk of dying in Nairobi, as governor Sonko said?
Kenya’s freshly elected representatives are full of plans and promises. Nairobi governor Mike Sonko pledged to improve health standards, saying mothers and newborns have a higher chance of dying in childbirth in his county than a far flung rural one.
incorrect
Are 70% of Kenyans who can work jobless? Union chief mangles numbers
Unemployment remains a challenge to most African governments. Kenya’s no less, but debating solutions should rest on accurate information.
incorrect
No, there is no ‘miracle recipe’ that cures diabetes
A Philippine doctor claims to have discovered a recipe – consisting of sweet peppers, eggs and sea salt – that eliminates diabetes “in five minutes”. But it has not been scientifically proven.
correct
Did Uganda receive more refugees daily in 2016 than many European nations did the whole year?
The top official of an international charity said Uganda received more refugees daily at the end of 2016 than many wealthy European countries did the entire year. Do the numbers add up?
incorrect
No data shows that 800,000 Nigerians live in South Africa
As xenophobic violence rears its head again in South Africa, a widely quoted figure of how many Nigerians live in South Africa is completely unsupported.
incorrect
Claim that 13 million international migrants live in SA wildly incorrect
A South African political party leader’s incorrect claim that 13 million foreign-born migrants live in the country is in part based on a debunked claim shared by an investigative television show.