Gauteng is the best province to live in - IRR
This week the IRR released a Fast Facts report, which assesses the nine provinces according to a number of economic and social indicators ranging from education to health.
Key findings included:
Only Gauteng and the Western Cape are economically viable units in the sense that they account for larger shares of the country's GDP than they do of the total population.
Economic rankings, built on indicators ranging from economic growth rates to unemployment levels, saw Gauteng leading with a score of 92 out of a possible 100 followed by the Western Cape at 78. The Eastern Cape brought up the rear with a score of 18.
Social rankings drew on indicators from malnutrition levels to matric pass rates. These put the Western Cape first and the Eastern Cape last.
Health rankings included indicators such as diarrhoea levels and the proportions of HIV positive women attending antenatal clinics. The Western Cape came in top position, followed by Gauteng. KwaZulu-Natal was in last position.
Education rankings relied on indicators from early childhood enrolment to the proportion of adults with a degree. Here the rankings saw Gauteng come out tops with a score of 92, followed by the Western Cape at 86. The Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, North West, and the Northern Cape were tied last at 32.
Service delivery rankings drew on data ranging from access to piped water to the presence of regular refuse removal services. The Western Cape led the service delivery standings and its neighbour, the Eastern Cape, fared the worst.
Crime rankings were built on murder, robbery, and assault rates. This time Limpopo emerged as the safest province overall and the Western Cape the most dangerous.
The report's author, Thuthukani Ndebele said: "The key finding is that, on aggregate, Gauteng is the best province in South Africa to live in, followed, in descending order, by the Western Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Free State, the North West and the Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape."
The report is made available to fee paying corporate subscribers and distributed free of charge to the media, civil society, and politicians.
Statement issued by Mienke Steytler, Institute of Race Relations, December 29 2014
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