d from the census. Another problem with the census measurements was that many black South Africans lived in “squatter camps” close to cities where they worked. They were not included in the census and many did not register births, deaths, marriages and divorces (Library of Congress, 48).In 1980, the census count was 23.8 million plus another 4.6 million was added to compensate for undercounting, making the total population 28.4 million. This also excluded the population of the independent homelands. The next census took place in 1991 during unprecedented political violence. The government used aerial photography for the first time to count the population where government officials couldn't access. A count of 30,986,920 citizens was reported. In 1992, the United Stated Bureau of the Census estimated that the total population of South Africa at 40.6 million people. In 1994, the South African government estimated it at 40.4 million after all ten homelands were included. That same year the United Stated Bureau of the Census estimated the total population at 43.9 million. In 1996 the population was estimated at 37,859,000, which is about 10 percent below the projections from earlier censuses. The South African Institute of Race Relations had also estimated that the population was 75.2 percent black, 13.6 percent white, 8.6 percent colored and 2.6 percent Asian (Library of Congress, 48). According to the Development Bank of South Africa, population growth declined from about 2.9 percent per year in the 1980’s to 2.4 percent in 1995. Today the population growth rate is estimated at 1.32 percent. Population growth was about 2.6 percent for blacks, 2.2 percent for coloreds, 1.9 percent for Asians and 1.0 percent for whites. The government estimates that by the year 2025 the population will have doubled. Life expectancy at birth was 62.7 years for males and 68.3 years for females in 1996. They both have lowered...
