More South Africans relay on state coffers: Stats SA

More South Africans continued to rely on state coffers as the percentage of individuals that benefited from social grants increased from 12.7 percent in 2003 to 30.1 percent in 2015, Statistic South Africa (Stats SA) said on Thursday.

The percentage of households that received at least one grant increased from 29.9 percent to 45.5 percent in 2015, over the same period, Stats SA said in its latest General Household Survey.

The survey also found that only 4.4 percent of students make it to tertiary institutions, while 88 percent of those attended primary or high school.

The figures are seen as an indication that unemployment and the poor state of education continue to affect South Africans.

"What remains very crucial is that 60 percent of the poverty drivers in society are driven by unemployment at 39 percent and education at 14 percent and these two are co-related because when you have an education, you can get a job,"said Stats SA's Pali Lehohla.

But the survey revealed that the Reconstruction and Development Programme project that started in 1994, has made strides with water and sanitation.

South African households which had access to piped water in 2015 stood at 89.4 percent on the average.

But in Eastern Cape Province, only 74.9 percent of households enjoyed such access.

This situation does, however, represent a substantial improvement from that of 2002 when only 56.3 percent of households in this province had access to piped water, according to the survey. Endit