The Dwelling Frame (DF) project is a project that was created in terms of Statistical Act no.6 of 1999 which states that Statistics South Africa needs to have a national register of all households within the country. Statistics South Africa as a body that embarks on censuses and other household surveys have enumeration areas’ boundaries that crosses traditional boundaries (social boundaries).Traditional boundaries are boundaries according to tribal authorities in tribal areas. Statistics South Africa has declared that for census 2011 EA boundaries that are crossing social boundaries are no longer needed. This paper seeks to explain the role that DF (project undertaken in preparation for census 2011) is going to play in helping Statistics South Africa to achieve socially friendly EA boundaries in tribal areas with Kwazulu-Natal’s tribal areas being used as an example.

Paper presented at the 57th Session of the International Statistical Institute (ISI), Durban (South Africa), August 2009.