SPECIAL FEATURE and to
SPECIAL FEATURE and to upgrade hostels into family units. All of these programmes should provide a boost to the construction and property sector and to small businesses in both sectors. 15 Alice Lane Annex. Image: Andrew Bell/Paragon Architects Overview of the province Gauteng is South Africa’s smallest province in terms of landmass but in every other respect it is a giant. The province is the nation’s key economic growth engine. At 18 176km², the province makes up just 1.5% of South Africa’s territory, but even that aspect showed growth in 2018 when the territory of Ekangala was formally transferred from Mpumalanga Province to Gauteng Province. Theland had previously been part of the KwaNdebele homeland. The 14.3-million people living in Gauteng in 2017 generated a gross domestic product of R1.59- trillion, about a third of South Africa’s GDP (StatsSA). Gauteng shares borders with four provinces, the Free State, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The southern border of the province is the Vaal River and most of the province is located on the Highveld. The Witwatersrand, which runs through Johannesburg, marks the continental divide: rivers running to the north drain into the Indian Ocean, rivers running south drain into the Atlantic Ocean via the Vaal into the Orange River. Gauteng draws its water from a series of interconnected river transfer systems. A major source of water is the Lesotho Water Highlands Project. The Witwatersrand was the source of the gold that drew so many thousands of people to the area in the late 19th century and was the origin of the word for South Africa’s currency, the “rand”. Gauteng is a leader in a wide range of economic sectors: finance, manufacturing, commerce, IT and media among them. The Bureau of Market Research (BMR) has shown that Gauteng accounts for 35% of total household consumption in South Africa. The leading economic sectors are finance, real estate and business, manufacturing, government services and wholesale, retail, motor trade and accommodation. The creative industries (including advertising and the film sector) employ upwards of 180 000 people and contribute more than R3.3-billion to the provincial economy. This BANDIT – EXPERIENCE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS First-world technology and quality combined SABS-approved roadworthy trailers built at Africa with African simplicity. The main woodchipper Biomass Company in Worcester, South Africa. unit is manufactured by Bandit Industries, Inc. Engine-powered woodchippers are fitted with 35-plus years’ experience with Tier 3, South African standard, diesel or in innovation and international petrol engines, depending on the woodchippers’ research. These units specification or clients’ preference. Electric and PTO are shipped to options are also available in various Bandit models. South Africa The add-ons are specifically handpicked to give where they are you the best set-up and will provide you with a fitted onto well-balanced woodchipper that will outperform most other chippers in Africa. www.abc.co.za
sector is seen as a driver of future growth. In Johannesburg, financial services and commerce predominate. The JSE, Africa’s largest stock exchange, is in Sandton and several new stock exchanges have recently received licences. Tshwane (which includes Pretoria) is home to many government services and is the base of the automotive industry and many research institutions. The Ekurhuleni metropole has the largest concentration of manufacturing concerns, ranging from heavy to light industry, in the country. The western part of the province is concerned mainly with mining and agriculture, while the south has a combination of maize farming, tobacco production and the heavy industrial work associated with steel and iron-ore workings. Individually, the biggest Gauteng cities contribute to the national GDP as follows: Johannesburg (15%), Tshwane (9%) and Ekurhuleni (7%). Gauteng is not just an important centre of economic activity it is also an important launching pad for local and international businesses to enter Nelson Mandela Bridge at night. Image: SA Tourism the African market. The country’s biggest airport, OR Tambo International Airport, is at the core of the province’s logistical network. Other airports include Rand Airport (Germiston), Wonderboom (Pretoria) Lanseria and Grand Central (Midrand). 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 the Labour Appeal Court. The province has several outstanding universities, and the majority of South Africa’s research takes place at well-regarded institutions such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Mintek, the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA), the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and several sites where the work of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) is done. ■ 9 GAUTENG BUSINESS 2020/21
