It didn't take long for President Cyril Ramaphosa to trumpet the positive aspects of the latest census as a reflection of the 'good work' done by his government and the ANC.

President Ramaphosa's address to the nation on Tuesday, following the release of Census 2022, was like watching a president gearing up for an election campaign, waving his government's report card of progress (and regression) to earn the electorate's trust once again.

"We have made tremendous progress since 1996," said Ramaphosa, highlighting that more young people are in educational programmes, that access to formal housing (brick/concrete structures) has increased, and that there are more communities with access to electricity and water.

"This is a clear demonstration of development and charging ahead as a nation. We are modernising a number of life-determining aspects of the general wellbeing of the population," said Ramaphosa.

It would be foolhardy to not acknowledge the progress made by the government post-apartheid.

Progress is evident in the census: the number of young people (between the ages of 5 and 24) attending educational institutions increased from 11.7 million in 1996 to 14.5 million in 2022; the number of households living in formal housing increased from 65.1% in 1996 to 88.5% in 2022; 82.4% of households (14.6 million out of 17.8 million) had access to piped water; households with electricity increased from 58.1% in 1996 to 94.7% in 2022.

(However,...