By Francis Hweshe
Cape Town - After four and half years of preparation, the task of counting everyone in the country in a nationwide census was launched in stunning fashion in Cape Town on Sunday night.
To mark the occasion the iconic Table Mountain was lit up in yellow - the colour of the Census 2011 campaign.
Present at the event and clad in yellow T-shirts were Minister in the Presidency responsible for the National Planning Commission Trevor Manuel, Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, among others.
Hundreds of the selected 120 000 enumerators were also present, along with several youngsters who provided entertainment during the proceedings.
Addressing the gathering, Manuel said Census 2011 was important as it allowed the government to know the needs of the people and plan accordingly.
"Democracy works because people are involved in their own lives. It's a great night, the work ahead (for the enumerators) is going to be tough," he said.
His view was shared by other officials who encouraged people to cooperate with the enumerators when they visited their homes.
Zille said: "We are counting you because you count. We only count you once in ten years."
The night saw mobile populations such as the homeless, refugees, people in police cells and tourists being the first to be counted. Similar events took place in Durban and Johannesburg.
Zille and de Lille took part in the counting of the homeless at the Haven Night Shelter in the city.
Mary Stoffels, who was one of those waiting to be counted at the shelter, told BuaNews that she believed the census was a necessary exercise. "I think it's a good thing because the government must know our situation," she said.
She added that her most pressing issue was that she needed an ID but she had taken steps to apply for one.
George Moses, 61, said he had been at the shelter for two years and he liked living close to Table Mountain. "I was born here near the mountain," he said, adding that census would help in knowing the needs of the country.
In Johannesburg, Census 2011 kicked off at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, were babies were the first to be counted. The enumerators then visited Park Station, the Methodist Church in Johannesburg's city centre as well as parts of Hillbrow.
