Gauteng

Gauteng ( ; tn, Gauteng; Northern and Southern Sotho: ''Gauteng''; zu, eGoli; Tsonga: ''Gauteng/eXilungwini;'' Ndebele, xh, iRhawuti; nr, I-Gauteng; ve, Gauteng) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means "place of gold".

Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province in South Africa. Though Gauteng accounts for only 1.5% of the country's land area, it is home to more than a quarter of its population. Highly urbanised, the province contains the country's largest city,

Johannesburg

, its administrative capital, Pretoria, and other large areas such as Midrand and Vanderbijlpark. , Gauteng is the most populous province in South Africa with a population of approximately 15 million people according to estimates.

Etymology

The name ''Gauteng'' is derived from the Sotho-Tswana name, meaning "gold". There was a thriving gold industry in the province following the 1886 discovery of gold in Johannesburg. In Setswana, the name was used for Johannesburg and surrounding areas long before it was adopted in 1994 as the official name of a 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 named Pretoria–Witwatersrand–Vereeniging (PWV) and was renamed "Gauteng" in December 1994. The term "PWV", describing the region existed long before the establishment of the province, with the "V" sometimes standing for "

Vaal Triangle

" rather than Vereeniging.

Gauteng's history has only been properly documented since the 19th century and as a result, not much information regarding its history predating the 19th century is available. At the Sterkfontein caves, some of the oldest fossils of hominids have been discovered, such as Mrs. Ples and Little Foot. The recorded history of the area that is now Gauteng can be traced back to 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 was founded in 1855 as capital of the South African Republic (ZAR - nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek). After the discovery of gold in 1886, the region became the single largest gold producer in the world and the city of Johannesburg was founded. The older city Pretoria was not subject to the same attention and development. Pretoria grew at a slower rate and was highly regarded due to its role in the Second Boer War. The Cullinan Diamond which is the largest diamond ever mined was mined near Pretoria in a nearby town called Cullinan in the year 1905.

Many crucial events happened in present-day Gauteng with regards to the anti-apartheid struggle, such as the Freedom Charter of 1955, Women's March of 1956, Sharpeville massacre of 1960, the Rivonia Trial in 1963 and 1964 and the Soweto Uprising of 1976. Today, the Apartheid Museum stands testament to these struggles in Johannesburg.

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 (ANC) 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.

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 of South Africa, Constitutional Court, South Africa's highest court, and to a branch of the Labour Court of South Africa, Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court of South Africa, Labour Appeal Court.

Geography

Gauteng's southern border is the Vaal River, which separates it from the Free State (province), Free State. It also borders on North West Province (South Africa), North West to the west, Limpopo Province, Limpopo to the north, and Mpumalanga Province, 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 (circa above sea level). 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 Subtropics, 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, Gauteng, 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" (archaic, after the gold reefs that precipitated the development of the area), and was the "W" in ''PWV'', the initial name for Gauteng. It has traditionally been divided into the three areas of East Rand (governed by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality), Central Rand (approximately today's City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Johannesburg Municipality) and West Rand.

Climate

The climate is mostly influenced by altitude. Even though the province is at a Subtropics, subtropical latitude, the climate is comparatively cooler, especially in

Johannesburg

, at above sea level (Pretoria is at ). 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

* Alberton, Gauteng, Alberton
* Alexandra, Gauteng, Alexandra
* Benoni, Gauteng, Benoni
* Boksburg
* Bronkhorstspruit
* Brakpan
* Carletonville
* Centurion, Gauteng, Centurion
* Cullinan
* Edenvale, Gauteng, Edenvale
* Ga-Rankuwa
* Germiston
* Hammanskraal
* Heidelberg, Gauteng, Heidelberg
*

Johannesburg

* Kempton Park, Gauteng, Kempton Park
* Krugersdorp
* Mabopane
* Magaliesburg
* Meyerton, Gauteng, Meyerton
* Midrand
* Nigel, Gauteng, Nigel
* Parkhurst, Gauteng, Parkhurst
* Pretoria
* Randburg
* Roodepoort
* Rosebank, Gauteng, Rosebank
* Sandton
* Soweto
* Springs, Gauteng, Springs
* Tembisa
* Vanderbijlpark
* Vereeniging

Administrative divisions

The Gauteng Province (as of May 2011) is divided into three metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipalities and two district municipality (South Africa), district municipalities. The district municipalities are in turn divided into six local municipality (South Africa), local municipalities:

District municipalities

* Sedibeng District Municipality, Sedibeng District
** Emfuleni Local Municipality, Emfuleni
** Lesedi Local Municipality, Lesedi
** Midvaal Local Municipality, Midvaal
* West Rand District Municipality, West Rand District
** Merafong City Local Municipality, Merafong City
** Mogale City Local Municipality, Mogale City
** Rand West City Local Municipality, Rand West City

Metropolitan municipalities

* City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (Pretoria)
* City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality
* City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

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

Demographics

Gauteng Province is home to 15.7 million (2019 Stats SA Mid-year estimates), with 25.8% of the total South African population. Gauteng Province is also the fastest growing province, experiencing a population growth of over 33% between the South African National Census of 1996, 1996 and 2011 censuses, thus Gauteng now has the largest population of any province in South Africa, though the smallest area.

As of the census of 2011, there are 12,272,263 people and 3,909,022 households residing in Gauteng. The population density is 680/km². The density of households is 155.86/km².

About 22.1% of all households are made up of individuals. The average household size is 3.33.

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.

In the province, 14.4% of residents speak Afrikaans at home, 12.5% speak English, 1.5% speak Southern Ndebele language, IsiNdebele, 6.3% speak IsiXhosa, 19.5% speak IsiZulu, 10.7% speak Sepedi, 13.1% speak Sesotho, 11.4% speak Setswana, 1.2% speak SiSwati, 3.2% speak Tshivenda, and 4.1% speak Xitsonga. 2.0% of the population speaks a non-official language at home.

76.0% of residents are Christian, 18.4% have Atheism, no religion, 1.7% are Muslim, 0.5% are Jewish, and 0.8% are Hinduism, Hindu. 2.6% have other or undetermined beliefs.

8.4% of residents 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.

56.1% of housing units 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. 84.2% have refuse removed by the municipality at least once a week and 2.6% have no rubbish disposal. 47.2% have Tap water, running water inside their dwelling, 83.6% have running water on their property, and 97.5% have access to running water. 73.2% of households 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.

25.8% of the population aged 15–65 is unemployed.

The median annual income of working adults aged 15–65 is R 23 539 ($3,483). Males have a median annual income of R 24 977 ($3,696) versus R 20 838 ($3,083) for females.