1.7 million South African households live in shacks, matchbox or RDP houses, of which 1.1 million have at least one working television set in their home. Of these, 3% (34,500) are DSTV subscribers. (AMPS2009A)

This week’s theme: Households, Houses, and Homes

According to the Department of Human Settlements between 1994 and 2008 2,604,763 subsidised housing units were fully or partly completed (Intergovernmental Fiscal Reviews (IGFR) – 2009, SANT)

This week’s theme: Households, Houses, and Homes

Less than 2% of DSTV’s 5.3 million subscribers read Hustler Magazine. Last night (11 March 2010) MultiChoice announced it would not carry adult content. (AMPS2009A, M&G ‘MultiChoice scraps porn channel’)

This week’s theme: TV in SA

In a study of 464 teenagers at a former Model C school in Gauteng, researchers found that the amount of television-watching was unrelated to the amount of reading done. (SA Journal of Education 2009, Vol 29:271-287)

This week’s theme: TV in SA

71% of South African households own a TV. 78% own a radio, and 66% own books. (GHS 2008)

This week’s theme: TV in SA

2.7 million adults have watched Discovery, National Geographic or the History Channel on DSTV in the past week. 62% of them are men. (AMPS2009A)

This week’s theme: TV in SA

Zimbabwe’s first TV station began broadcasting in 1960. South Africa had to wait till 1976. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe_Broadcasting_Corporation)

This week’s theme: TV in SA

17.9 million South Africans voted in the 2009 National and Provincial elections. In the 2007/8 tax year, there were 5.2 million registered individual tax payers. (SA Development Indicators 2009, SARS)

This week’s theme: Disparate stats

South Africa’s first rapid railway, the Gautrain, comes at a cost of R25 billion. South Africa’s military expenditure for 2010/11 is expected to be R31 billion. (www.treasury.gov.za, www.gautrain.co.za)

This week’s theme: Disparate stats

According to the most recent Worldwide Cost of Living survey, Johannesburg is the most affordable city in the world for foreigners (out of 143 cities measured). 86% of adults living in Johannesburg find the statement ‘Crime has made me very anxious about personal safety’ true or very true. (http://www.mercer.com/costofliving, AMPS2009A)

This week’s theme: Disparate stats