Population and human development indicators of UMkhanyakude District Municipality.
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Date
2018
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Abstract
Observing population and human development indicators is essential for excellent planning and proper distribution of resources. Central to all planning and development shall be the people at heart. The significance of understanding population dynamics and developmental capabilities play an influential role to the advancement of its citizens. Human development should be in relation to the set district, provincial, national and international standards. Hence, statistics and findings are important because they provide an understanding of both areas of challenges and achievements, thus a need for strategic planning. The objective of planning for development should be about and for the human advancement at its core and purpose. The District of Umkhanyakude is not immune from the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. South Africa as a member state at the United Nations has subscribed to the established global agenda of sustainable development goals (SDGs) with a time-frame of 15 years (which started in 2015 until 2030). The District has obligations to alleviate unemployment, poverty, inequality, and be pro-improved human living conditions. Developing programmes that ought to respond to the global set agenda needs to have time-frame, and measured.
UMkhanyakude District remains one of municipalities in KZN that needs great investment of resources to better living conditions of its citizens. The population of UMkhanyakude remained relatively young. More than 50% of the population in the District is below the age of 35 years and women were the majority. Women and the youth bear much of high unemployment problem. The District racial composition was composed of all racial groups found in the country, which are, Black/African, Coloured, Indian/Asian, and White. The Black/African race constituted about 99% of the total sample data. Coloured, Indian and White race make almost 1% of the total sample. Female headed about 60% of household and their average age was above 65 years old. Moreover, 90% of average income received by the District comes from grants and subsidies. Most of the household in the District live on grants and subsidies. Income levels have increased since the dawn of democracy however remained low. High levels of educational attainment tend to be the key to unlock human potential and personal development. Investment in education and health infrastructure is important for a healthy population, in particular that is youthful and growing. This may positively contribute to increased skills and future workforce that can participate meaningfully to the economy of the District and provincially, as well as for the country as a whole. There was a relatively low educational attainment, especially for post matric qualifications. There was a considerable high number of people with no education at all, about 23% of the data sample.
The study undertook a quantitative approach to explore the data. The sample data used came from community survey 2016, and UMkhanyakude had 47,179 sample data. The data was analysed using Stata 14 programme, and micro soft excel. The Community Survey 2016 (CS2016) data was used to explore population profile of the district. General demographic indicators presented the district population estimate by local municipalities, sex composition ratio, which was the number of males per 100 females. Population pyramids for the District over the years were included to better understand patterns of population dynamics by age and population group.
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Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.