Western Cape

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the huge (and now defunct) Cape Province. Prior to the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, it was called the Cape Colony (see the History of Cape Colony).

Law and Government

The capital of the Western Cape Province is the City of Cape Town. Its current List of Premiers of Western Cape Province|Premier]] is Ebrahim Rasool and the Director-General is Gilbert Lawrence.

The Constitution of the Western Cape was adopted in 1998 and is available in the official languages of the province: Afrikaans, English and Xhosa.

The Western Cape Provincial Legislature is responsible for creating laws within its responsibilities as set out by the South African Constitution. Some of the issues dealt with cover agriculture, education, environment, health services, housing, language policies, tourism, trade, and welfare. The Legislature is housed in Cape Town and has a total of 42 members; 24 seats are currently held by the ANC, 13 by the DA, 1 by the ID, 2 by the ACDP, and 2 by the UIF.

The Western Cape Provincial Administration had a 2004 budget of R16.4 billion (US$2.8 billion).

Geography

Western Cape Province is bordered on the north by the Northern Cape Province, on the east by the Eastern Cape Province, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The Subantarctic dependency of the Prince Edward Islands is included within the province's administration. The Breede and Berg Rivers are major rivers of the province. The capital is Cape Town and other major cities include Stellenbosch, Worcester, Paarl, and George. The Garden Route and the Overberg are popular coastal tourism areas.

The Western Cape is exceptionally topographically diverse. Most of the province falls within the Cape Fold Belt, a range of sandstone folded mountains of Permian to Carboniferous age that range in height from 1000m to 2300m. The valleys between ranges are generally very fertile and contains alluvial loamy to clay soils. The far interior forms part of the Karoo Basin and is generally arid and hilly with a sharp escarpment in the north. Coastal areas range from sandy between capes, to rocky to steep and mountainous in places. The Western Cape is also the southernmost region of the African continent with Cape Agulhas as its southernmost point, only 3800km from the Antarctic coastline.

The total land area is 129,370 km², about 10.6% of the country’s total. It is roughly the size of England or the US state of Louisiana.

Municipalities

The Western Cape Province is made up of five District Municipalities subdivided into 24 Local Municipalities, along with one Metropolitan Municipality.

City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality

West Coast District Municipality

Cape Winelands District Municipality

Overberg District Municipality

Eden District Municipality

Central Karoo District Municipality

Climate

The Western Cape is also diverse climatologically, with many distinct micro- and macroclimates created by the varied topography and the influence of both the Indian (warm water) and Atlantic (cold water) Oceans. Most of the province is condsidered to have a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. The interior Karoo has a semi-arid climate with cold, frosty winters and hot summers with occational thunderstorms. The Garden Route and the Overberg on the south coast have a maritime climate with cool, moist winters and mild, moist summers. Mossel Bay in the Garden Route is considered to have the second mildest climate worldwide after Hawaii.

Thunderstorms are genrally rare in the province, except in the Karoo interior, with most precipitation being of a frontal or orthographic nature. Extremes of heat and cold are common inland, but rare near the coast. Snow is a common winter occurrence on the higher lying ground, however frost is relatively rare in coastal areas and many of the heavily cultivated valleys.

Economy

The Western Cape Province’s total GDP is the third-highest contribution to the country’s total, at 14.6%. The largest industry is the clothing and textile industry, which employs over 170,000 people. The textile industry is presently declining in importance, due to competition with cheaper Eastern producers, such as China. High-tech industries, international call centres, fashion design, advertising and TV production are niche industries rapidly gaining in importance. The province also has a substantially lower unemployment rate than the other provinces; 17.1% of the working population is unemployed.

The province has recently grown a massive tourism industry, with the majority of international tourist arrivals visitng the province, with Cape Town, Garden Route and the Winelands being popular tourist destinations. There were 1,535,903 international arrivals in 2004 with continued growth annually. Domestic tourism is also on the rise, as low-cost air carriers such as Kulula.com and OneTime make travel more affordable to more South Africans.

Infrastructure & Communications

The Western Cape has an excellent network of highways comparable with any first-world country. The primary highways are the N1 (from Cape Town to Three Sisters), N2 (from Cape Town to Bloukrans River), N7 (from Cape Town to Bitterfontein) and N12 (from George to Three Sisters). Other routes are the "R" roads and connect other areas. All major roads are tarred with major rural gravel roads well maintained. Limited access motorways are limited to the Cape Metropolitan Area, Winelands and Garden Route, however due to the low population density of the remainder of the province, the highways remain efficient and high-speed, except during peak holiday travel seasons, when travel can be slow-going in places due to heavy traffic.

Telecommunications in the province is highly sophisticated; however, landline telephone communications still leaves much to be desired (much due to the Telkom telecommunications parastatal's monopoly). All areas have internet access. Mobile cellular communications is world class with reception in all densely populated rural areas, all urban areas and along all major routes (including mountain passes and tunnels). All national banks are represented almost everywhere, including even the smallest of towns.

Demographics

As of the census of 2001, there are 4,524,336 people and 1,173,302 households residing in the Western Cape. The population density is 34.97/km². The household density is 9.07/km². The racial makeup of the Western Cape is Black African 26.68%, Coloured 53.91%, Indian/Asian 1.00%, and White 18.41%.

15.6% of all households are made up of individuals. The average household size is 3.86.

In the province the population is spread out with 27.3% under the age of 15, 19.4% from 15 to 24, 32.9% from 25 to 44, 15.2% from 45 to 64, and 5.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 26 years. For every 100 females there are 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.3 males.

In the province 55.3% of residents speak Afrikaans at home, 19.3% speak English, 0.0% speak IsiNdebele, 23.7% speak IsiXhosa, 0.2% speak IsiZulu, 0.0% speak Sepedi, 0.7% speak Sesotho, 0.1% speak Setswana, 0.0% speak SiSwati, 0.0% speak Tshivenda, and 0.0% speak Xitsonga. 0.4% of the population speaks a non-official language at home.

81.8% of residents are Christian, 9.0% have no religion, 6.5% are Muslim, 0.4% are Jewish, and 0.2% are Hindu. 2.1% have other or undetermined beliefs.

5.7% of residents aged 20 and over have received no schooling, 15.2% have had some primary school, 7.9% have completed only primary school, 36.5% have had some high school education, 23.4% have finished only high school, and 11.2% have an education higher than the high school level. Overall, 34.6% of residents have completed high school.

63.1% of housing units have a telephone and/or cell-phone in the dwelling, 34.2% have access to a phone nearby, and 2.7% have access that is not nearby or no access. 86.5% of households have a flush or chemical toilet. 87.8% have refuse removed by the municipality at least once a week and 1.4% have no rubbish disposal. 67.5% have running water inside their dwelling, 85.2% have running water on their property, and 98.3% have access to running water. 78.8% of households use electricity for cooking, 73.4% for heating, and 88.0% for lighting. 79.1% of households have a radio, 74.1% have a television, 18.2% own a computer, 73.5% have a refrigerator, and 41.4% have a cell-phone.

17.1% of the population aged 15-65 is unemployed. Of the unemployed persons, 53.4% are Black African, 43.0% are Coloured, 0.4% are Indian/Asian, and 3.2% are White. 23.3% of Black Africans are unemployed, 9.3% of Coloureds, 5.0% of Indians/Asians, and 2.0% of Whites.

The median annual income of working adults aged 15-65 in the Western Cape is R 18,703 (US$2,811). Males have a median annual income of R 21,048 (US$3,164) versus R 17,035 (US$2,560) for females. The median annual income by race is R 12,213 (US$1,836) for Black Africans, R 16,354 (US$2,458) for Coloureds, R 42,803 (US$6,434) for Indians/Asian), and R 64,968 (US$9,765) for Whites. The annual income distribution is:

No income 2.0%
R 12 – R 4,800 (US$2 - $721) 6.5%
R 4,812 – R 9,600 (US$723 - $1,443) 17.7%
R 9,612 – R 19,200 (US$1,445 – $2,886) 25.1%
R 19,212 – R 38,400 (US$2,888 - $5,772) 20.1%
R 38,412 – R 76,800 (US$5,774 - $11,543) 15.2%
R 76,812 – R 153,600 (US$11,545 - $23,087) 8.3%
R 153,612 – R 307,200 (US$23,089 - $46,174) 3.3%
R 307,212 – R 614,400 (US$46,176 - $92,348) 1.1%
R 614,412 or more (US$92,350+) 0.7%

Statistics South Africa Census 2001

Important cities and towns

See also List of cities and towns in the Western Cape

Population 1,000,000+ (urbanized area)

Cape Town

Population 50,000+ (urbanized area)

Population 10,000+ (urbanized area)

Population < 10,000

Education

The Western Cape is the most highly educated province with a very skilled workforce in comparison to any other African region. The high school graduation (matric: South African colloquial) rate is consistently around 80%, higher than any other province. The province also boasts two internationally acclaimed universities, namely Stellenbosch and Cape Town. Quality of education remains a problem in previously disadvantaged areas (product of apartheid Bantu Education System). The South African government has shown a keen interest in bolstering the education system and quality seems to be improving.

Colleges and universities

External links

References

Municipal Demarcation Board

Provinces of South Africa | Western Cape Province

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