The results of the Census 2011 are a clear indication that Gauteng cannot be treated like other provinces when it comes to the allocation of funds from the national government.
Gauteng Premier, Nomvula Mokonyane, made this statement at a media briefing following the official handover of the Census 2011 results to the Gauteng Executive Council (EXCO) by Statistician-General, Pali Lehohla.
“The Census 2011 has vindicated our position that Gauteng serves more people than those who call this province home. We serve people from other provinces and even others who come outside South Africa,” the Premier said.
Mokonyane said the Census 2011 showed that Gauteng saw a significant population increase of 2.9 million people between 2001 and 2011, presenting the province with challenges and opportunities of equal measure.
“The population increase is a result of natural growth as well as significant in-migration from other provinces and around the world. This is evidenced by the fact that only 56% of its population was actually born in the province, whereas the figure for KZN is 92% and 72% for the Western Cape.
“The figures therefore demonstrate rapid urbanisation; a phenomenon that has become evident across the world. Whilst cities play a crucial role in fostering economic productivity and innovation, they need to be properly planned and effectively managed. In this respect, Gauteng; including its metros and districts will be working with the National Planning Commission in developing a national Urban Development Strategy.
This will ensure that we remain the country’s key economic node that is environmentally-sustainable to meet the socio-economic needs of its people,” she said.
The Census also found that Gauteng reported a 7.1% presence of non-citizens, making it one of the most cosmopolitan and culturally-inclusive regions in Africa.
“Our opportunity and challenge is to harness the power of the immigrant population in order to power our economy forward just like great cities such as New York, Hong Kong, Paris, London and Shanghai,” she said.
A report by the United Nations Habitat states that city sizes should have a net density of 10 000 to 15 000 inhabitants per square kilometre.
“Our province, at 675 inhabitants per square kilometre is still particularly low. This means that the GPG, along with its municipalities, need to aggressively pursue policies aimed at higher densification, including getting more people to live in high-rise buildings. We must remember that Gauteng has challenges of land for development as we have areas which are dolomitic,” Premier Mokonyane said.
There has been a considerable improvement in education levels in Gauteng over the last decade and a half. In 1996, 9.7% of residents 20 years and older had no education. This had declined to just 3.7% in 2011. By contrast, 9.9% had a post-matric higher-education qualification in 1996. By 2011 this had almost doubled to 18.1%.
Mokonyane said where government was working alone; the Census showed that much progress had been achieved.
“We talking here about things such as education and housing,” she said.
In comparison to the 2001 data, Census 2011 shows a considerable improvement over the in the percentage of households in formal shelter, with some 80% of Gauteng households now formally housed and 19.3% in informal or traditional dwellings (7.8% in backyard shacks; 11.1% in informal settlements, and 0.4 in traditional dwellings).
The Census suggests that access to piped water, whether in a dwelling or a yard, or through a community stand pipe, has improved steadily between 1996 and 2011. It now stands at 98.2% in Gauteng. The proportion of households with access to a decent toilet facility has increased over the period 1996-2011, with 96.3% now having a flush toilet connected to a waterborne sewerage system, a septic tank, or a form of improved pit latrine. The use of electricity for lighting had increased steadily since 1996, with a dramatic increase between 2001 and 2011 to 87.4%.
“The results of the Census 2011 have, by and large, confirmed a research about our province and the direction we should take in developing towards Vision 2055. This data is critical as our lessons from other globally-competitive city-regions show that forward-effective planning is fundamental to staying ahead of the pack,” the Premier said.
The Premier urged for more public-private partnerships to ensure that challenges such as job creation and skills development are overcome.
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