Fin24 reports that Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu had a "productive and congenial" meeting on Sunday with Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke and members of the SA Statistics Council following the latter's threat to resign over a lack of funds for Statistics SA.  

Mthembu's spokesperson, Nonceba Mhlauli, indicated that Mthembu, Maluleke and council chair Professor David Everatt would be working with Finance Minister Tito Mboweni and the National Treasury to address "imminent risks" in the statistical system if funding challenges were not addressed.  "The spirit of the meeting was to find common ground to ensure continuity and integrity of the statistical system.  The meeting was productive and congenial," Mhlauli said.  The Council, which endorses data released by Stats SA and advises the statistician-general, had threatened to step down if Stats SA did not receive more funding and fill frozen posts.  In an initial statement issued by David Everatt, it was claimed that the agency's vacancy rate had reached 20%, that some staff were working six- or seven-day weeks, and that the situation had "reached crisis point".  "The South African Statistics Council unanimously call on government to heed our call and inject funds into Stats SA.  If not, Council will withdraw our support for official statistics, and resign," Everatt had warned.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Fin24

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