Gauteng and Western Cape lead in low adult illiteracy, says Stats SA

North-eastern KwaZulu-Natal remains the country’s most persistent concentration of adult illiteracy while Gauteng and Western Cape continue to record clusters of lower illiteracy.

According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the country has seen a substantial decline in the geographical concentration of adult illiteracy since 1996, but parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape remain persistent hot spots.

Stats SA compared Census 1996 and Census 2022 data to examine how adult illiteracy among people aged 20 and older was distributed across the country. Because the censuses do not directly measure literacy proficiency, Stats SA used educational attainment as a proxy for functional literacy.

People aged 20 and older with no formal education or whose highest educational attainment was below Grade 7 were classified as functionally illiterate, while those who completed Grade 7 or higher were regarded as functionally literate.

The analysis found that in 1996, the country’s most prominent hot spot was concentrated in KwaZulu-Natal particularly around Umkhanyakude in the north-east of the province “where clustering was significant at the 99% confidence level”.

“This represented the strongest concentration of adult illiteracy in the country,” said Stats SA.

Surrounding areas including Zululand, King Cetshwayo, Umzinyathi and parts of Harry Gwala and uMgungundlovu also recorded significant clustering creating what Stats SA described as a broad zone of elevated adult illiteracy across much of KwaZulu-Natal.

“In contrast, significant cold spots of low illiteracy were concentrated in Gauteng and adjoining districts,” said Stats SA.

These clusters extended into parts of North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga while additional areas of low illiteracy were identified in the Western Cape.

Together with districts in eastern KwaZulu-Natal, these areas formed a corridor of higher illiteracy extending along sections of South Africa’s eastern seaboard.

By 2022, the geographical concentration of adult illiteracy had declined, though significant disparities remained.

Stats SA said Umkhanyakude continued to stand out as the country’s most persistent hot spot, but the size and intensity of the cluster had diminished.

“By 2022, this hot spot remained visible but had become smaller and less intense, with the strongest clustering occurring at the 95% confidence level,” said Stats SA.

Stats SA said this showed that while north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal remained the country’s main concentration of adult illiteracy, the geographical extent of the hot spot had “contracted considerably”.

The 2022 data also showed a more visible concentration of elevated illiteracy in parts of the Eastern Cape.

“Together with districts in eastern KwaZulu-Natal, these areas formed a corridor of higher illiteracy extending along sections of South Africa’s eastern seaboard,” said Stats SA.

At the other end of the spectrum, Gauteng and Western Cape continued to have the strongest clusters of relatively low adult illiteracy.

“The most extensive pattern was a series of cold spots of low illiteracy centred on Gauteng and the Western Cape. The strongest cold spots, significant at the 99% confidence level, were found within these provinces and extended into surrounding districts in North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Free State,” Stats SA said.

Another significant change was an increase in areas that could no longer be classified as statistically significant hot spots or cold spots.

By 2022, substantial portions of Northern Cape, Free State, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as well as sections of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, fell into this category.

Stats SA said this indicated that adult illiteracy had become less geographically concentrated in many parts of the country.

“In 1996, stronger clustering patterns were evident across several regions. By 2022, many districts no longer formed statistically significant hot spots or cold spots, indicating a weakening of extreme spatial concentrations and a more dispersed distribution of literacy outcomes,” it said.

Despite the improvement, regional disparities remain evident more than two decades later.

“In summary, the comparison shows that the overall extent of high-illiteracy clustering declined substantially between 1996 and 2022. The north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal remained the country’s most persistent hot spot, while Gauteng and Western Cape continued to form the strongest cold spots of low illiteracy,” said Stats SA.