Important findings from the latest statistical studies of South African culture, including insights into religious trends and language.
A recent study by the South African Statistics on South African Culture over the past decade (STATS SA) has revealed fascinating trends about how we live, worship, speak and marry.
How religious are South Africans today?
South Africa is a predominantly religious country and continues to be ruled by Christianity. The Christian proportion rose from 75.9% in 1996 to 84.5% in 2022.
The proportion of people without religious affiliations fell sharply from 11.7% to just 2.9%.
Traditional African religions have been revived, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal (13.5%), the Eastern Cape (11%) and Limpopo (6.3%).
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Are Africans really dying languages?
Africans continue to be South Africa's third most spoken language, but the speaker share has declined from 14.5% in 1996 to 10.6% in 2022.
“The actual number of African speakers increased by over 700,000 between 1996 and 2022,” the study states.
This group has been the main language of over 70% of South Africans since 1996.
Stats SA emphasized that Afrikaans remain dominant in the Northern Cape, where 54.6% of residents talk about it.
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South African Language for Cancellation in Academic Success
According to Stats SA, English speakers consistently recorded the highest rate of progression from Grade 9 to Grade 12 completion.
“Having English as a medium of instruction in the South African school education system is an additional benefit for English speakers and may justify the higher rate of progression that was likely achieved,” the report states.
African speakers continue closely, but students at indigenous African language-speaking schools such as the Ishikusou and Ishizuru have historically fallen behind.
However, Stats SA said, “There has been a significant increase in educational advancements over the past few decades, increasing from 0.42 in 1960 to 0.61 in 2022.”
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Do more South Africans choose to marry later in their lives?
In this study, only 23.8% of South Africans age 12 and older had a legal decline in 2022 compared to 35.6% in 1996.
Conversely, the number of people who have never been married has risen from 52.8% to 61.7%.
“The sudden decline in marriage rates suggests wider social changes from marriage,” the report states.
The average age of marriage is also increasing. The man is currently married at an average age of 34.5, while the woman is married at 31.4.
“We observed a higher rate of marriage between white and Indian/Asian population groups compared to black Africans and colour.”
How is South Africa becoming multilingual?
Gauteng and the Western Cape lead the way in which 17% and 10.5% are multilingual, respectively.
Multilingual households have more than doubled from 3.5% in 1996 to 9.4% in 2022.
The report also highlighted the increasing presence of informal languages such as Shona, Portuguese and Chichewa, reflecting the increase in migration.
“The cultural landscape of South Africa continues to be shaped by Western and Eastern traditions.”
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