Gauteng


Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa.
Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1.5% of the country's land area, it is the most populous province in South Africa, with more than a quarter of the national population; the provincial population was approximately 16.1 million, according to mid-year 2022 estimates. Highly urbanised, the province's capital is also the country's largest city, Johannesburg. Gauteng is the wealthiest province in South Africa and is considered the financial hub of South Africa; the financial activity is mostly concentrated in Johannesburg. It also contains the administrative capital, Pretoria, and other large areas such as Midrand, Vanderbijlpark, Ekurhuleni and the affluent Sandton. The largest township, Soweto, is also found in this province. Politically, it is the closest contested province between the nationalist African National Congress and the liberal Democratic Alliance in South Africa.

Etymology

The name Gauteng is derived from Sotho-Tswana gauta, meaning 'gold'. There was a thriving gold industry in the province following the 1886 discovery of gold in Johannesburg. In Sesotho, Setswana and Sepedi the name Gauteng was used for Johannesburg and surrounding areas long before it was adopted in 1994 as the official name of the province.

History

Gauteng was formed from part of the old Transvaal province after South Africa's first multiracial elections on 27 April 1994. It was initially called Pretoria–Witwatersrand–Vereeniging and was renamed "Gauteng" on the 28th of June 1995, the same day two other provinces were renamed. The term "PWV" describing the region existed long before the establishment of a province by that name, with the "V" sometimes standing for "Vaal Triangle" rather than Vereeniging.
At the Sterkfontein caves, some of the oldest fossils of hominids have been discovered, such as Mrs. Ples and Little Foot.
Events in this area were not written down until the 19th century; information from before that time is lost or difficult to confirm. The first records are from the early 19th century, when settlers originating from the Cape Colony defeated chief Mzilikazi and started establishing villages in the area.
The city of Pretoria, established in 1855 as the capital of the South African Republic, witnessed rapid growth until the discovery of gold in the Witswatersrand area in 1886, which led to the founding of Johannesburg. Despite slower development compared to Johannesburg, Pretoria maintained significance, notably due to its pivotal role in the Second Boer War. The nearby town of Cullinan gained international acclaim in 1905 when the largest diamond ever discovered, the Cullinan Diamond, was mined there.
Many events crucial to the anti-apartheid struggle happened in present-day Gauteng, such as the Freedom Charter of 1955, Women's March of 1956, Sharpeville massacre of 1960, the Rivonia Trial of 1963 and 1964, the little Rivonia Trial of 1964, the Soweto uprising of 1976 and Sharpeville Six of 1984. The Apartheid Museum documents this era.

Law and government

Gauteng is governed by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, a 73-person unicameral legislature elected by party-list proportional representation. The legislature elects one of its members as Premier of Gauteng to lead the executive, and the Premier appoints an Executive Council of up to 10 members of the legislature to serve as heads of the various government departments. The provincial government is responsible for the topics allocated to it in the national constitution, including such fields as basic education, health, housing, social services, agriculture and environmental protection.
The most recent election of the provincial legislature was held on 8 May 2019, and the African National Congress won 50.19% of the vote and a 37-seat majority in the legislature. The official opposition is the Democratic Alliance, which won 27.45% of the vote and 20 seats. Other parties represented are the Economic Freedom Fighters with eleven seats and the Freedom Front Plus with three seats. The Inkatha Freedom Party and African Christian Democratic Party hold one seat each. Premier David Makhura of the ANC was re-elected as premier on 22 May 2019, at the first meeting of the legislature after the general election. Makhura resigned from the position on 6 October 2022 and Panyaza Lesufi of the ANC was elected to replace him. In the 2024 South African general election, held on 29 May, the ANC received 34% of the vote, while the DA received 28%.
The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa, which has seats in Pretoria and Johannesburg, is a superior court with general jurisdiction over the province. Johannesburg is also home to the Constitutional Court, South Africa's highest court, and to a branch of the Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court.

Geography

Gauteng's southern border is the Vaal River, which separates it from the Free State. It also borders on North West to the west, Limpopo to the north, and Mpumalanga to the east. Gauteng is the only landlocked province of South Africa without a foreign border. Most of Gauteng is on the Highveld, a high-altitude grassland. Between Johannesburg and Pretoria, there are low parallel ridges and undulating hills, some part of the Magaliesberg Mountains and the Witwatersrand. The north of the province is more subtropical, due to its lower altitude and is mostly dry savanna habitat.

Witwatersrand area

In the southern half of Gauteng, the Witwatersrand area is an older term describing a 120 km wide oblong-shaped conurbation from Randfontein in the West to Nigel in the East, named after the Witwatersrand, a geologically and economically important series of low ridges and their associated plateau that greater Johannesburg developed on. This area is also often referred to simply as "Witwatersrand", "the Rand" or "the Reef", and was the "W" in PWV, the initial name for Gauteng. It has traditionally been divided into the three areas of East Rand, Central Rand and West Rand.

Climate

The climate is mostly influenced by altitude. Even though the province is at a subtropical latitude, the climate is comparatively cooler, especially in Johannesburg, at above sea level. Most precipitation occurs as brief afternoon thunderstorms; however, relative humidity never becomes uncomfortable. Winters are crisp and dry with frost occurring often in the southern areas. Snow is rare, but it has occurred on some occasions in the Johannesburg metropolitan area.

Cities and towns

The Gauteng Province is divided into three metropolitan municipalities and two district municipalities. The district municipalities are in turn divided into six local municipalities:

District municipalities

The former Metsweding district consisting of Nokeng Tsa Taemane and Kungwini in the North of the province was incorporated into Tshwane in 2011.

Demographics

As of the 2022 census, Gauteng had a population of 15,099,422, an increase of 23.0% from the last census in 2011. Despite being the smallest province by area, it has the highest population of any South African province, with 24.3% of the total South African population.
As of 2022, there are 5,318,665 households in Gauteng. The population density is 831/km2. The density of households is 155.86/km2.
About 22.1% of all households are made up of individuals. The average household size fell slightly between the 2011 census and 2022 census, from 3.1 to 2.8 persons.
The province's age distribution was 23.6% under the age of 15, 19.6% from 15 to 24, 37.9% from 25 to 44, 15.0% from 45 to 64, and 4.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 27 years. For every 100 females there are 101.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 102.3 males.

Languages

According to the 2022 census, in Gauteng, the most spoken languages at home were:
  • Zulu: 23.1% of residents
  • Sesotho: 13.1%
  • Sepedi: 12.6%
  • Setswana: 10.4%
  • English: 9.2%
  • Afrikaans: 7.7%
  • Xitsonga: 7.0%
  • IsiXhosa: 6.7%
  • IsiNdebele: 3.1%
  • Tshivenda: 2.4%
  • SiSwati: 0.9%
  • South African Sign Language: 0.02%
  • Other languages: 21.7%

    Religion

Of residents, 86.1% are Christian, 4.3% have no religion, 1.6% are Muslim, 0.1% are Jewish, and 0.7% are Hindu; 6.0% stated Traditional African religions as their faith.

Educational attainment

Of residents, 8.4% aged 20 and over have received no schooling, 11.2% have had some primary, 5.5% have completed only primary school, 34.3% have had some high education, 28.0% have finished only high school, and 12.6% have an education higher than the high school level. Overall, 40.6% of residents have completed high school.

Economic status

Of housing units, 56.1% have a telephone and/or mobile phone in the dwelling, 41.5% have access to a phone nearby, and 2.3% have access that is not nearby or no access; 82.8% of households have a flush or chemical toilet, while 84.2% have refuse removed by the municipality at least once a week and 2.6% have no rubbish disposal. For running water, 47.2% have it inside their dwelling, 83.6% have running water on their property, and 97.5% have access to running water. Of households, 73.2% use electricity for cooking, 70.4% for heating, and 80.8% for lighting; 77.4% of households have a radio, 65.7% have a television, 15.1% own a computer, 62.1% have a refrigerator, and 45.1% have a mobile phone.
Of the population aged 15–65, 25.8% is unemployed.
The median annual income of working adults aged 15–65 is R 23 539. Males have a median annual income of R 24 977 versus R 20 838 for females.