The 2010 General Household Survey (GHS) has found that grants were prevalent as a source of income in four provinces across South Africa.

The survey, which was released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), found that grants were prevalent as a source of income in Limpopo at 58.2%, followed by the Eastern Cape at 56.2%, the Northern Cape at 52.2% and the Free State at 51.5%.

Stats SA said 44.9% of households across South Africa are dependent on grants, while 62.4% of households are dependent on incomes from salaries.

"About a third of households in Eastern Cape (37.6%) and Limpopo (33.1%) selected social grants as their households' main source of income," read the report.

The Western Cape at 74.7% and Gauteng at 74.2% had the highest percentage of households who earned an income from salaries.

When coming to access for food, an estimated 21.9% of South African households had inadequate or severely inadequate access to food. The most serious food access problems were in North West at 33.3% followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 26.9%, the Northern Cape at 26% and the Free State at 23.6%.

When coming to education nationally, 72.8% of people aged seven to 24 were attending educational institutions.

According to the survey, following a steady increase in attendance rates between 2002 and 2007, there was a slight decline in attendance rates relative to 2007 in all provinces except in Gauteng.

This, said Stats SA, could be a reflection of the poor state of the economy. "A lack of money for fees remains the primary reason for a large proportion of individuals in this age group who were not studying," said Stats SA.

The survey found that at 60.8% public clinics were the most frequently used health facilities, followed by a private doctor at 24.3% and a public hospital at 9.4%. The majority of households used the nearest facility of its kind, while nearly a quarter (24.3%) of South African households had at least one member who belonged to a medical aid scheme.

"While almost 71% of the white population belonged to some medical scheme, only 46.8% of the Indian, 21.8% of the coloured and 10.3% of the black African population groups were covered by such schemes at the time the survey was conducted in 2010," it read.

Gauteng and the Western Cape had the highest percentage of medical aid membership.