Pretoria - Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is set to embark on the second phase of a massive recruitment drive for Census 2011.
The drive will see 156 000 fieldworkers hired to undertake the country's population count.
The recruitment for fieldwork positions - 6 000 census fieldwork coordinators, 30 000 supervisors and 120 000 fieldworkers - forms part of the final preparations in undertaking the biggest census South Africa has seen.
The national statistical office, which is responsible for conducting the population census, will use the normal recruitment process such as advertising in newspapers and a rigorous targeted approach, focusing on areas where there has been a low response rate in the initial phase of the project.
That first phase began last year, when prospective candidates were invited to apply to be included on the Census 2011 database.
A total of 161 000 people have been captured on this database and Stats SA is engaged in a gap analysis, where it is looking at the geographical concentration of the applicants.
Stats SA's recruitment drive is aimed at communities as this will ensure that census fieldworkers reside in the areas villages, farms, townships, suburbs they will be counting come 10 October.
Census project director Calvin Molongoana said: "Stats SA promotes a recruitment drive at local level, in line with ensuring that fieldworkers enumerate their own localities."
Molongoana said that Census 2011 employment application forms are available in all Stats SA offices for free.
"These forms are available countrywide in all our offices. We will also be making the forms available in community centres around the country," he said, adding that the forms would be clearly marked "not for sale".
Acknowledgement of receipt of applications will be via SMS by August 2011. - BuaNews
