South Africa's Patterns of Development & Distribution (DP IB Geography)
Revision Note
Written by: Jacque Cartwright
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
Case Study: South Africa's Population Distribution
Background
The Republic of South Africa is the southernmost country of the African continent
It has a land area of 1.22 million km2, with a population density of 50 per km2
It is the 2nd most populous country south of the equator, after Tanzania, with 60.6 million people and the 24th most populous country in the world
Approximately, 69.0 % of the population is urban
The median age in South Africa is 27.6 years
Average life expectancy is 60 years (men) and 66 years (women)
A large plateau dominates the centre of the country, with rolling hills falling to plains and the coast
The climate is mostly semiarid; subtropical along the east coast; with sunny days and cool nights
South Africa has 3 capitals
Pretoria (administrative capital)
Cape Town (legislative capital)
Bloemfontein (judicial capital) and 9 provinces
Distribution of population
The main ethnic groups in South Africa are:
Black African 81.4%,
Coloured 8.2%
White 7.3%
Indian/Asian 2.7%,
Other 0.4%
The eastern half of the country is more densely populated than the west
The province of Gauteng, has the highest concentration of people with 830 people per km2 (20% of South Africa’s population)
With concentrations of people inland around and along the southern and south-eastern coast
Distribution of South Africa's population
South Africa’s total GDP for 2022 was R6.6 trillion ($358 billion US) roughly US$6,776 per capita
Gauteng province is the centre for economy, contributing 33.1% to national GDP in 2022
Gauteng is the smallest province with the highest density and is the core region
Northern Cape province has the lowest density of less than 4 people per km2
Population Density per Province in South Africa
Province | Density (person per km2) |
---|---|
Gauteng | 830.6 |
KwaZulu-Natal | 131.7 |
Mpumalanga | 67.24 |
Western Cape | 57.41 |
Limpopo | 52.27 |
Eastern Cape | 42.79 |
North West | 36.27 |
Free State | 22.83 |
Northern Cape | 3.636 |
Data from 2022 South Africa Census
Economic distribution
Finance is the biggest industry in Gauteng and the Western Cape
Mining dominates in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and the Northern Cape
KwaZulu-Natal’s major industry is manufacturing, although it has the country’s largest farming sector
Government services - such as health, education and administrative spending - are focused in the Eastern Cape and Free State
Core-periphery
Population size correlates with each province’s contribution to the national economy
Gauteng has the largest and therefore, is the core of South Africa and dominates with finance
The northeastern provinces dominate in secondary and tertiary economic activities of mining, manufacturing and government services
The Western Cape is mostly tertiary economic activities with finance and tourism
The economic periphery is to the north-west of South Africa:
Includes the Northern Cape and Free State
The Free State is mostly maize and Northern Cape is an emerging renewable energy hub
South Africa has some of the highest levels of inequality and the development gap can be seen in a range of areas:
18.2 million people are living in extreme poverty of less than $2.15 a day
20% of the population holds over 68% of income, with 40% seeing just 7% of income
Unemployment remains high, at around 35% and nearly 60% of the country’s youth (15-24 yrs) are unemployed
Income per capita in Gauteng is twice that of rural provinces such as the Eastern Cape and Limpopo
Electricity supply is regularly cut (reaching 9 hours a day in 2023), this impacts economic activity and increases operating costs for businesses, particularly those that rely on diesel generators
88.5% of the population live in formal housing and just 59.7% have access to piped water in their homes
Poverty was an estimated 62.6% in 2022; the Eastern Cape is the poorest region
Only 24% of rural households have access to piped water
Literacy rates is 95.3% with Gauteng and Western Cape seeing literacy rates of 98.9%
In some areas, the unemployment rate in rural areas is over 30%. This leads to:
Increased poverty
Difficulty attracting businesses to these regions
The periphery is becoming even more dependent on primary economic activities to survive
Regional inequality has led to significant rural-urban migration in South Africa
Case Study: South Africa’s Internal Migration
Migration has been a major part of the development of South Africa, particularly unskilled labour migration from peripheral countries such as Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho and Malawi to the mining regions
Colonialism created economic node/centre, which in turn brought continued uneven development of the country
After apartheid and the relaxing of migration rules, internal migration has been driven by economics where the majority of South Africans move from the poorer provinces to the richer ones, and from rural areas to the cities
Gauteng is South Africa’s wealthiest province, mostly a city region, it is the centre of the country’s economy
Between 2016 and 2021 Gauteng saw the largest net migration rate of 1.5 million people population and continues to increase in number
The majority of migrants came from Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal
Johannesburg City saw the largest number of internal migrants
Western Cape, North West, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape also experienced positive net migration rates
Western Cape received migrants from the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, with Cape Town the biggest recipient
North West saw immigration from Gauteng to Rustenburg and Madibeng
Mpumalanga had a positive in migration from Gauteng
The Northern Cape, the largest but least populated province, saw a positive net migration from the North West province
Four provinces experienced negative net migration - Limpopo, Free State, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal
Free State and Limpopo both had negative net migration to Gauteng
Eastern Cape saw negative migration to Western Cape and secondly to Gauteng
KwaZulu-Natal had a negative net migration with the majority migrating to Gauteng
Internal migration pre and post apartheid
From 1960 to the late 1980s, apartheid laws kept families and communities in poor rural areas
Forced migration of many black people to the homelands such as Transkei and KwaZulu-Natal
Young, black men were allowed to move to the cities, where their labour was valuable
However, they were forced to live separately in ‘townships’, and needed both residential and work permits to live in the restricted areas
Townships were a collection of nondescript settlements found on the outskirts of cities
Soweto (South-Western Township) for example, was a separate residential area for black African workers in the gold mines around Johannesburg as they were not permitted to live in other ‘white-designated’ areas of Johannesburg
Johannesburg's Chinese community, during the apartheid era, was not legally classified as ‘Asian’, but as ‘coloured’ and they too had their own separate townships
After the end of apartheid, from the mid-1990s, internal migration increased, particularly for black South Africans
Urbanisation grew, with Johannesburg seeing the largest increase of rural to urban migration, leading to Johannesburg being the largest and only megacity in South Africa
Over 67.5% of the total population of South Africa now live in urban areas and cities
International migration
Most Africans escaping from violence tend to seek security and prosperity elsewhere on their own continent
Of the world's 17 million displaced Africans. approximately 3% are in Europe, despite the media coverage
The number of displaced people in Africa has increased by around 20% due to unresolved crises in:
Libya
South Sudan
Central African Republic
Northern Mozambique
Ethiopia
Cameroon's north-west and south-west regions
Overall, the 'Rainbow Nation' of South Africa (SA) has attracted roughly 3.2 million migrants to its wealth and stability from elsewhere in Africa
Most migrants are from neighbouring countries, but also Morocco or Eritrea and mostly head towards Johannesburg
Neighbourhoods such as Mayfair in Johannesburg are almost entirely populated by East Africans
Unfortunately, there have been repeated outbreaks of violence towards migrants, which are caused by a shortage of jobs, housing, and services
Over a million asylum seekers are still waiting to be processed, making South Africa the country with the highest number of pending claims in the world
With increased European resistance to accepting new migrants, it is unlikely the flow of migrants to South Africa will slow
Map of forced migration in South Africa during apartheid
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Include examples or specific detail in all your answers. For example, if asked to write a definition or meaning, providing an example shows your understanding and secures that mark, particularly if your definition isn't perfect.
For example, if you were asked to define migration:
Migration is when people move from one region to another region. This can be internal such as rural Free State to urban Gauteng in South Africa or international such as South Sudanese to South Africa escaping the civil unrest
Get into the habit of using your case studies or real-world examples in any question where you think they might help explain.
Don’t keep them just for essays!
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