'Gauteng best province to live in'

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Johannesburg - Gauteng has the best economy and education of all the provinces in the country. This is according to a report published by the SA Institute for Race Relations (SAIRR). “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, North West and the Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape,” said the report’s author, Thuthukani Ndebele. The report, published by the SAIRR’s FastFacts newsletter, which assessed the nine provinces in the country, found that only Gauteng and the Western Cape were 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 with 78. The Eastern Cape brought up the rear with a score of 18.

Gauteng contributed 33.8 percent to the national GDP and KwaZulu-Natal 16 percent, followed by the Western Cape at 13.7 percent.

Social rankings looked at issues such as malnutrition levels and matric pass rates. These put Western Cape first and Eastern Cape last.

As far as health rankings, which included issues such as diarrhoea levels and the proportions of HIV-positive women attending antenatal clinics went, the Western Cape is placed first, followed by Gauteng.

KwaZulu-Natal came in last.

Education rankings analysed early childhood enrolment and 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 with 86.

The Eastern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga 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 while its neighbour, the Eastern Cape, once again fared the worst.

Giving a very different picture were crime rankings that looked at crimes such as murder, robbery and assault rates.

Limpopo emerged as the safest province overall while the Western Cape was adjudged the most dangerous.

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The Star