Research conducted by strategic Internet insights company, Webchek, indicates that 5.5% of South African`s major metropolitan population has access to the World Wide Web. Using 1998 population estimates as a guide, this suggests that approximately 674 000 white, coloured, black and Indian South Africans have access to the Web at home and/or at work.
According to Webchek`s marketing director, Jenny McKinnell, "There are no easy (or perfect) answers to the question: "How many South Africans have access to the Web?" and the debate is obviously a sensitive one. Higher figures for Web access in South Africa do work to the advantage of the Web development, as well as online publishing and electronic commerce industries. However, given the investment currently being made in the Internet and the Web in South Africa, we believe it is important that our figures are as realistic as possible."
Webchek regularly conducts interviews among a large representative sample of white, coloured, Indian and black respondents, aged 18 years and older, and living in major metropolitan areas. Respondents are interviewed on a face-to-face basis and are sampled randomly, using the random suburb sampling technique to ensure a representative cross-section of respondents.
Due to the low penetration of Web access in all population groups, the base sizes of Web users have tended to be too low - Webchek interviews 500 males and 500 females per survey, per race group. As this is a sample that is representative of the broad population, and given the low penetration of Internet access, Webchek found that the base sizes per survey were too low.
To address this problem, Webchek combined the findings of a number of surveys to increase the statistical reliability of its findings. The findings reported here are based on 2 000 interviews with white women (500 each in February, March, April and May 1999), 1 000 interviews with white men (500 each in February and May 1999), 1 000 interviews with black men (500 each in February and April 1999), 2 000 interviews with black women (500 each in February, March, April and May 1999), and 500 interviews each with Coloured and Indian men and women.
In a nutshell, Webchek`s findings are as follows:
8.9% of white females have access to the Web at home and 7.5% have access to the Web at work.
8.5% of white males have access to the Web at home and 12.3% have access to the Web at work.
1.5% of coloured women had Web access at work, but the figures for access at home were [LK1]almost 0%, although 4% had a PC at home. Coloured males (interviewed in May 99) were more likely to have Web access, with 4.6% saying they had Web access at home and 9.3% saying they had Web access at work.
Approximately 1.5% of Indian women had Web access at work in April 1999, but hardly anyone had Web access at home - although 9% have PCs at home. 2.7% of Indian men said they had Web access at home in May 1999, whilst 9.3% of Indian men said they had access at work.
The bases are too small to draw meaningful conclusions about the percentage of the black population which has Web access.
Webchek`s combined February 1999 and April 1999 findings among 1 000 black males put access to the Web at home at 0.1% and Web access at work at 1.4%. Combined findings among 2 000 black females interviewed in February, March, April and May 1999 indicate that Web access at home is 0.1% and Web access at work is 0.4%.
So how many people have access?
Based on a population estimate of 1 270 000 million white women, living in major metropolitan areas in 1998, this means that an estimated 113 030 women have access at home and 92 250 have access at work. This puts total urban metropolitan access (excluding duplication - ie those who have access at BOTH home and work) at approximately 208 280.
Based on a population estimate of 1 240 000 million white men, living in major metropolitan areas in 1998, this means that an estimated 105 400 white men have access at home and 152 520 have access at work. This puts total urban metropolitan access (excluding duplication - ie those who have access at BOTH home and work) at approximately 257 920.
Based on a population estimate (1998 estimate of people who are 18 years or older and reside in major metropolitan areas) of 4 129 000 black males, 553 000 coloured males, 303 000 Indian males, 3 751 000 black females, 597 000 coloured females and 309 000 Indian females, this means that:
61 935 black males and 18 755 black females have access to the Web at home and/or work.
76 867 coloured males and 8 955 coloured females have access to the Web at home and/or work.
36 360 Indian males and 4 635 Indian females have access to the Web at home and/or work.
If we add these numbers to the 466 200 white users, this increases the number of people who have Web access at home and/or work to approximately 674 000. This translates to 5.5% of the 12 152 000 people, over the age of 18, living in major metropolitan areas of South Africa. It is important to note however that Webchek`s statistics exclude Web users who live and/or work outside Gauteng, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein, due to the high costs of conducting research in outlying areas. Users younger than the age of 18 are also not included.
That said, these figures also do not account for the overlap in terms of users who have access at both home and work. Webchek`s Project SA Web User 1999 research study found that of those who have Web access, on average, 12% of white women and 35% of white men have Web access at both home and work. This would reduce the number of white users to approximately 364 000 people.
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