Despite improving levels of access to the Internet, the majority of South African households remained unconnected altogether, a new survey published by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Tuesday showed.

The latest General Household Survey (GHS) Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) 2002 to 2013 report showed that 59.1% of South African households lacked any kind of Internet access in 2013.

While access was common in the Western Cape and Gauteng, 78.1% and 69.8% of households in Limpopo and Eastern Cape respectively lacked Internet connectivity.

“Households that are urbanised, living in formal dwellings and in the higher socioeconomic classes are generally better equipped and connected than households living in rural areas, in traditional or informal housing and that form part of the lower Living Standard Measure groups,” Stats SA pointed out.

This was evident as 79.2% of households in rural areas lacked access to the Internet, compared with 54.8% in urban and 47.2% in metropolitan areas.

The GHS report found that, in addition to affordability, 38% of the households nationwide – and just under half of the rural households – believed that a lack of skills, knowledge and confidence to use the Internet, either at home or through a mobile device, was a major inhibitor.

About one-third of households across all settlement types questioned the need for access, while 20.9% were concerned about the high cost of equipment and subscription fees.

The GHS found that less than one-half per cent of households were primarily concerned about possible exposure to harmful contents on the Internet.

Meanwhile, the survey showed that 30.8% of South Africa’s households accessed the Internet using mobile devices, compared with 10% at home and 16% at work.

Metropolitan households boasted the highest access across all four of the surveyed categories – 16.4% at home, 37.2% through a mobile device, 26.5% at work and 15.4% elsewhere, including at education institutions and Internet cafes.

“Although lagging the access by metropolitan households, households in urban areas still enjoyed significantly better access that households in rural areas,” the GHS noted.