Gauteng
Province
Coat of arms
Nickname:  Maboneng (Place of Lights)
Motto:  Unity in Diversity
Location of Gauteng in South Africa
Province	South Africa
Established	28 April 1994
Capital	Johannesburg
Municipalities	List City of Johannesburg City of Tshwane City of Ekurhuleni Sedibeng West Rand
Government
• Type	Parliamentary system
• Premier	Panyaza Lesufi (ANC)
• Legislature	Gauteng Provincial Legislature
Area [1]
• Total	18,176 km2 (7,018 sq mi)
• Rank	9th in South Africa
Highest elevation	1,913 m (6,276 ft)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	15,099,422
• Rank	1st in South Africa
• Density	831/km2 (2,150/sq mi)
• Rank	1st in South Africa
Population groups (2022) [1]
• Black	84.6%
• White	10.0%
• Coloured	2.9%
• Indian or Asian	2.2%
Languages [3]
• Zulu	23.1%
• English	9.2%
• Southern Sotho	13.1%
• Sepedi	12.6%
• Tswana	10.4%
• Xhosa	6.6%
• Tsonga	6.6%
• Southern Ndebele	3.2%
• Venda	2.3%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
ISO 3166 code	ZA-GP
GDP	US$134.7 billion [4]
HDI (2021)	0.736[5] high · 2nd of 9
Website	www.gauteng.gov.za

Gauteng (/xaʊˈtɛŋ/ khow-TENG;^[6]Sotho pronunciation: [xɑ́.ú.ˈtʼè.ŋ̀] khow-oo-T'EH-ng; Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; Zulu: eGoli or iGoli [îːˈgóːlì]) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa.

Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1.5% of the country's land area, it is the most populous province in South Africa, with more than a quarter (26%) of the national population;^[7] the provincial population was approximately 16.1 million, according to mid-year 2022 estimates.^[8] Highly urbanised, the province contains the country's largest city, Johannesburg, which is also one of the largest cities in the world. Gauteng is the wealthiest province in South Africa and is considered the financial hub of South Africa; the financial activity is mostly concentrated in Johannesburg. It also contains the administrative capital, Pretoria, and other large areas such as Midrand, Vanderbijlpark, Ekurhuleni and the affluent Sandton. The largest township, Soweto is also found in this province.

Etymology

The name Gauteng is derived from Sotho-Tswana gauta, meaning 'gold'.^[9] There was a thriving gold industry in the province following the 1886 discovery of gold in Johannesburg.^[10] In Sesotho, Setswana and Sepedi the name Gauteng was used for Johannesburg and surrounding areas long before it was adopted in 1994 as the official name of the province.

History

Gauteng was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first multiracial elections on 27 April 1994. It was initially called Pretoria–Witwatersrand–Vereeniging (PWV) and was renamed "Gauteng" on the 28th of June 1995, the same day two other provinces were renamed.^[9] The term "PWV" describing the region existed long before the establishment of a province by that name,^[11] with the "V" sometimes standing for "Vaal Triangle" rather than Vereeniging.^[12][13]

At the Sterkfontein caves, some of the oldest fossils of hominids have been discovered, such as Mrs. Ples and Little Foot.^[14]

Events in this area were not written down until the 19th century;^[14] information from before that time is lost or difficult to confirm.^[14] The first records are from the early 19th century, when settlers originating from the Cape Colony defeated chief Mzilikazi and started establishing villages in the area.^[14]

The city of Pretoria, established in 1855 as the capital of the South African Republic, witnessed rapid growth until the discovery of gold in the Witswatersrand area in 1886, which led to the founding of Johannesburg.^[11][14] Despite slower development compared to Johannesburg, Pretoria maintained significance, notably due to its pivotal role in the Second Boer War. ^[14] The nearby town of Cullinan gained international acclaim in 1905 when the largest diamond ever discovered, the Cullinan Diamond, was mined there.^[11]

Many events crucial to the anti-apartheid struggle happened in present-day Gauteng, such as the Freedom Charter of 1955, Women's March of 1956, Sharpeville massacre of 1960, the Rivonia Trial of 1963 and 1964, the little Rivonia Trial of 1964, the Soweto Uprising of 1976 and Sharpeville Six of 1984.^[11] The Apartheid Museum documents this era.^[11]

Law and government

Gauteng is governed by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, a 73-person unicameral legislature elected by party-list proportional representation. The legislature elects one of its members as Premier of Gauteng to lead the executive, and the Premier appoints an Executive Council of up to 10 members of the legislature to serve as heads of the various government departments. The provincial government is responsible for the topics allocated to it in the national constitution, including such fields as basic education, health, housing, social services, agriculture and environmental protection.

The most recent election of the provincial legislature was held on 8 May 2019, and the African National Congress (ANC) won 50.19% of the vote and a 37-seat majority in the legislature. The official opposition is the Democratic Alliance, which won 27.45% of the vote and 20 seats. Other parties represented are the Economic Freedom Fighters with eleven seats and the Freedom Front Plus with three seats. The Inkatha Freedom Party and African Christian Democratic Party hold one seat each.^[15] Premier David Makhura of the ANC was re-elected as premier on 22 May 2019, at the first meeting of the legislature after the general election.^[16] Makhura resigned from the position on 6 October 2022 and Panyaza Lesufi of the ANC was elected to replace him.

The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa, which has seats in Pretoria and Johannesburg, is a superior court with general jurisdiction over the province. Johannesburg is also home to the Constitutional Court, South Africa's highest court, and to a branch of the Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court.

Geography

Gauteng's southern border is the Vaal River, which separates it from the Free State.^[9] It also borders on North West^[9] to the west, Limpopo^[9] to the north, and Mpumalanga^[9] to the east. Gauteng is the only landlocked province of South Africa without a foreign border.^[9] Most of Gauteng is on the Highveld, a high-altitude grassland (circa 1,500 m or 4,921 ft above sea level). Between Johannesburg and Pretoria, there are low parallel ridges and undulating hills, some part of the Magaliesberg Mountains and the Witwatersrand. The north of the province is more subtropical, due to its lower altitude and is mostly dry savanna habitat.

Witwatersrand area

In the southern half of Gauteng, the Witwatersrand area is an older term describing a 120 km wide oblong-shaped conurbation from Randfontein in the West to Nigel in the East, named after the Witwatersrand, a geologically and economically important series of low ridges and their associated plateau that greater Johannesburg developed on. This area is also often referred to simply as "Witwatersrand", "the Rand" or "the Reef" (archaic, after the gold reefs that precipitated the development of the area), and was the "W" in PWV, the initial name for Gauteng. It has traditionally been divided into the three areas of East Rand (governed by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality), Central Rand (approximately today's Johannesburg Municipality) and West Rand.^[17][18]

Climate

The climate is mostly influenced by altitude. Even though the province is at a subtropical latitude, the climate is comparatively cooler, especially in Johannesburg, at 1,700 m (5,577 ft) above sea level (Pretoria is at 1,330 m or 4,364 ft). Most precipitation occurs as brief afternoon thunderstorms; however, relative humidity never becomes uncomfortable. Winters are crisp and dry with frost occurring often in the southern areas. Snow is rare, but it has occurred on some occasions in the Johannesburg metropolitan area.^[19][20]