Zuko Komisa

The 2022 CENSUS reveals that 9 out 10 of SA’s population have mobile phones
The nationwide findings of the South African Census 2022 indicate a rising trend in the possession of cell phone usage in the country.
South Africa has come a long way since the first cell phone hit the market Twenty-nine years ago, in 1994, when Vodacom and MTN introduced the first cellular services in South Africa, laying the groundwork for the majority of the country’s population to have access to voice and data services.
The Census 2022 data, which was handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday in Pretoria, showed interesting partners in the South African economy pertaining to the ownership of cellphones, refrigerators, televisions, and cellphones.
Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke gave a breakdown of some of the findings.
“The overwhelming majority (92.1%) of households in the country owned a cellphone in working order, a notable increase from the 3.3% in 2001. Just under four-fifths (79%) of households owned televisions compared to the 52.6% in 2001,” Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said.
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Internet Access in the country
Over the years, there has generally been an increase in the availability of Internet services. Maluleke explained this by pointing to the quick development of communication services, such as smartphone ownership.
“Overall, households with no access to internet decreased threefold (from 64.8% in 2011 to 21.1% in 2022). A substantial percentage of households reported accessing internet mainly through a cellphone or other mobile device (60.5%) compared to 16.3% recorded in 2011.
“There was an increase in the percentage of households accessing internet mainly at home, from 8.6% in 2011 to 13.3% in 2022. It is also noted that households accessing internet mainly using other methods decreased significantly. Households accessing internet mainly at work decreased by four percentage points (from 4.7% in 2011 to 0.3% in 2022),” he said.



