Despite a fairly long history of census-taking in all three B.L.S. countries in South Africa,
considerable inconsistences and differences in basic concepts as well as in the procedures
of census-taking complicate a comparative analysis of these populations. The independent
approach of the 1960s has aggravated the problem of comparative analysis. However,
the close manner in which Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho are economically linked
with the Repl,lblic of South Africa - particularly as all three nations have South Africa
as a common market for their labour - prompts a closer look at their demographic characteristics,
as these variables will undoubtedly have an important bearing on their respective
socio-economic development in the future and on the general manpower situation
in Southern Africa.