By the Numbers

by The Editor


SERIES: Some light reading for a Friday: 10 interesting numbers from current affairs and politics that tell a story. Did you know that 20.5% of people in Emfuleni Municipality in Gauteng believe it is legitimate for a man to beat a woman “if she is unfaithful”, the highest proportion of any municipality in the province? For this fact and a range of other curious and disturbing numbers, read on. Below the graphic is the full list of numbers and, in each case, the source from where they originate.

By the Numbers

By: Gareth van Onselen


21 September 2012

[To see the graphic full scale, right click over it and select ‘view image‘]

The Numbers

• 7 100. The number of service delivery protestors Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza accused of being possessed by demons and evil spirits. Reflecting on the protests which rocked Mkhondo local municipality Mbuza said the people responsible were now “closer to God” and “indeed, praise the Lord for this because in the past you were affected by the evil spirits and demons which led you to behaving badly. Your previous actions indeed distanced you from God.”
• 3. The number of new generators that failed to automatically start during a power outage at Chris Hani Baragwanath on 7 September 2012 resulting in some surgeries having to be finished by the light of a cellphone.
• 48. The number of hours Chris Hani Baragwanath has been without power this year, the result of seven different power cuts.
• R3 200. The indigent policy threshold in the DA-run Midvaal municipality – the highest in the province (the higher the threshold, the greater the number of indigent people able to qualify for a rebate).
• 1.5m. The size of the “indentation” (1.5m x 1.5m) the submarine SAS Queen Modjadji 1 suffered after “unplanned contact” with the sea-bottom, according to Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
• 5. The estimated number of people out of every 100 in Gauteng Province who believe it is legitimate for a man to beat a woman “if she is unfaithful”, according to the second Gauteng City-Region Observatory Quality of Life Survey.
• 20.5. The estimated number of people out of every 100 in Emfuleni Municipality who believe it is legitimate for a man to beat a woman “if she is unfaithful”, the highest proportion of any muncipality in Gauteng, according to the same survey.
• 2. The number of Gender Based Violence Shelters for Women run by the state in Gauteng, out of a total of 21. The other 19 are run by civil society.
• 92.81% The percentage of the capital expenditure budget (in real terms, R4.233 billion) which was spent by Cape Town City for the 2011/2012 financial year.
• – 8.23% The amount of support in percentage terms the ANC lost from 2009, in losing Ward 88 (Philippi, Cape Town) to the DA in a by-election this week (53.99% down to 45.76%). In a statement in response to the result the ANC Western Cape said “The Western Cape ANC has successfully defended its base of support and consolidated its voters block in Wednesday’s Ward 88 by-election in Philippi”.

Previous Editions:
• By the Numbers: 7 September 2012
• By the Numbers: 14 September 2012

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