1. 1 21 th Wiesbaden Group meeting - Paris Presentation to 21 th Meeting of the Wiesbaden Group on Business Registers ” BR Needs and solutions for Statistics South Africa” (Session 7a) Marietha Gouws Business Register: Statistics South Africa 27 November 2008

2. 2 21 th Wiesbaden Group meeting - Paris Topics Concepts, design and solutions found for Business Registers (BR) The place of BR in the national register/survey system Basic architecture of the system Advantages and drawbacks Solutions found and under development Practical difficulties encountered by trying to combine different source Areas, where register design progress permitted new or better analysis Degree of “fitness “ of the present system to meet future, in particular globalisation-related, needs

3. 3 21 th Wiesbaden Group meeting - Paris Needs and solutions for Statistics South Africa Concepts, design and solutions found for BR Integrated Business register (IBR) Business database (BDB) (Admin+ Business Sampling Frame (BSF)) Data files from 7 admin databases - no single common identifier, the links across data files are derived by matching algorithms. Statistics New Zealand Place of BR in the national register/survey system BSF is the foundation of all Economic Statistics surveys undertaken by Stats SA. Measure of size is turnover, economic activity classification is done to a 5-digit.

4. 4 21 th Wiesbaden Group meeting - Paris Needs and solutions for Statistics South Africa (continued) Basic architecture of the system System was bought from Statistics New Zealand Greater understanding and optimal utilisation are required Advantages and drawbacks Proper- and well maintained documentation The administrative side of your tax systems compatible? Uniqueness of legislation in your country?

5. 5 21 th Wiesbaden Group meeting - Paris Needs and solutions for Statistics South Africa (continued) Solutions – found and under development Enhancements are planned and linked to improvement on the business side. Inter-departmental project to reform business registration (single business number) in South Africa – impact Practical difficulties encountered by trying to combine different sources The lack of a single identifier for businesses is a significant drawback. It makes comprehensive use of data from multiple administrative sources difficult - if not impossible. Two of the seven admin data sources are currently utilised for BSF updating. Soft matching could lead to the creation of duplicate Units on the BSF.

6. 6 21 th Wiesbaden Group meeting - Paris Needs and solutions for Statistics South Africa (concluded) Areas, where register design progress permitted new or better analysis Quality Management Framework (indicators and performance measures) Degree of “fitness “ of the present system to meet future, in particular globalisation-related, needs Current system – enhancements as improvements are made to the business side

7. 7 21 th Wiesbaden Group meeting - Paris Thank you! Contact info: mariethag@statssa.gov.za