REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA COMBINED SECOND PERIODIC REPORT UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE`S RIGHTS and INITIAL REPORT UNDER THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA 318. Literacy rates can be used as a key social indicator of development. In this regard, as Table 12 below shows, the percentage of individuals over the age of 20 years who could be regarded as functionally illiterate has declined from 27,3% in 2002 to 16,2% in 2013. 93