While South Africa has achieved a decline in mortality and fertility rates, its lack of proper education and skills development is resulting in the country failing to capitalise fully to achieve what is known as a demographic dividend, Statistics South Africa Statistician General Pali Lehohla said on Friday.

A demographic dividend is the accelerated economic growth that may result from a decline in a country's mortality and fertility and the subsequent change in the age structure of the population.

For South Africa, the average fertility rate has already declined from 6.4 births in the 1950s to 2.4 births in 2005 to 2010.

This, in turn, should lower the level of dependency on working age adults. But, argued Lehohla, the problem was compounded by high unemployment levels and low income levels.

Further, he pointed out that the country’s youth, between the ages of 15 and 34, expressed a desire for education. “This is the message that we need to give to our political system,” he said, adding that the calls for water and electricity by older generations were being answered first.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, Lehohla further said government placed a greater focus on contraception than education. “In all demographic transitions, this was the key . . . education, then contraception. Here, [contraception is first]. It has impacted the black population the most.”

Lehohla raised the question of where the future generation of entrepreneurs would come from, noting that the country’s history of developing such businesspeople was not “very encouraging”.

He added that 69.2% of people who started informal business did so owing to their being unemployed.

Also speaking at the event, Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said the country was in a state of "economic apartheid", as distributors did not reach out to township and other local entrepreneurs. “Unless we break it down, nothing will change for black entrepreneurs [and other black business].”

“The entrepreneurship week signifies a step that gives everyone an assurance that the country is intensifying efforts to build and sustain its entrepreneurial capacity,” she added.

However, Zulu said that as long the structure of the economy remained unchanged, development goals would not be met. This, she said, could be overcome by working together with the private sector.