Survey of Employers and Self-Employed 2017
South Africa, 2017
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ZAF_2017_SESE_v01_M
Survey of Employers and Self-Employed 2017
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| South Africa | ZAF |
Enterprise Survey [en/oth]
The SESE aims to provide information about the characteristics of businesses in the informal sector in South Africa and provides an understanding of their operation and access to services. The criterion for inclusion in SESE depends on whether the business is registered for value added tax (VAT). Only persons who had businesses that are not registered for VAT were included. These businesses are generally excluded from the Business Frame used by Stats SA during surveys to assess the formal economy.
The main objectives of SESE are:
- To determine the contribution made by businesses not registered for VAT towards economic growth.
- To collect reliable data about people running businesses not registered for VAT.
Sample survey data [ssd]
Businesses and individuals
Version
v1: Edited, anonymised data for public distribution
2019-03-19
Version 1 of the Survey of Employers and Self-Employed was downloaded from Statistic South Africa's website 20190910.
Scope
The survey collected background data on small businesses and their operations, including their premises, the establishment of the business and start-up finance. Data was also collected on business production and the workforce, expenditure, capital and transport.
| Topic | Vocabulary | URI |
|---|---|---|
| business/industrial management and organisation [2.2] | CESSDA | http://www.nesstar.org/rdf/common |
Coverage
National coverage
The lowest level of geographic aggregation covered by the SESE 2017 data is Province.
The survey covered individuals with non-VAT registered businesses in South Africa, most of which are in the informal sector. The 2001 and 2005 datasets only covered individuals aged 15-64 years, while in 2009, 2013 and 2017 all persons aged 15 years and older were included. For comparability, the analysis is based only on those aged 15-64 years.
Producers and sponsors
| Name |
|---|
| Statistics South Africa |
Sampling
Currently, there is no sampling frame on which to base weights and raising factors for unregistered businesses in South Africa. As a result, SESE is a household-based survey, consisting of two phases. The first phase involves identifying individuals who are running businesses based on the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) conducted in the third quarter of each year (July-September). The second phase involves a follow-up interview with the owners of these businesses to determine the nature of their businesses.
Survey instrument
The questionnaire covered background data on the small business (from questions 4 to 16 of the questionnaire) , its site of operation (questions 17 to 25), its business management, operations and finances (questions 26 to 43). Data is also collected on business expenditure and turnover (questions 44 to 52), people employed and labour costs (questions 53 to 60), expenditure on fuels, materials and services (question 61), business capital (questions 62 to 67) and transport (questions 68 to 70).
Data collection
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 2017-09-25 | 2017-09-29 |
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Statistics South Africa | Government of South Africa |
In 2005, SESE data collection occurred in September over a two-week period. In 2009, 2013 and 2017, data collection for the QLFS occurred in September during the middle two weeks of the month throughout the quarter, while SESE data collection was undertaken in the last week of the month, also throughout the quarter.
Data appraisal
SESE 2009 estimates that were previously published have been revised based on new population benchmarks from the 2011 Population Census. The 2005 SESE estimates have not been adjusted to reflect the new population benchmarks. The adjustment process in this regard is more complex since it involves the computation of new link factors to align the historical LFS series (2000 to 2007) to the QLFS series. Caution is therefore advised when interpreting trends based on the absolute numbers, which include the 2005 results. SESE trends based on proportions are more reliable. For this reason, the analysis in this report relies exclusively on trends of various proportions.
Data Access
| Name | Affiliation | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DataFirst | University of Cape Town | http://www.support.data1st.org | support@data1st.org |
Public use files, available to all
Statistics South Africa. Survey of Employers and Self-Employed 2017 [dataset]. Version 1. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa [producer], 2019. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/2yp4-we96
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DataFirst Helpdesk | University of Cape Town | support@data1st.org | http://support.data1st.org/ |
Metadata production
DDI_ZAF_2017_SESE_v01_M
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| DataFirst | University of Cape Town | Metadata producer |
2020-03-29
Metadata version
Version 01: This metadata is identical to the same survey metadata (zaf-statssa-sese-2017-v1) available in the DataFirst website except Document ID and Study ID.