/ 24 December 2002

The provincial good, bad and ugly

South Africa’s nine provinces weave a fascinating tapestry of the vibrant and awe-inspiring, as well as the peculiar, embarrassing and moribund. Many small towns grapple with transition and big cities are asserting their importance.

Gauteng, the continent’s economic hub, cemented its primacy this year. Even the crazed nocturnal urban bombers in November could not divert the province’s attention from its main business: turning a buck. It successfully hosted the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Its ambitious Blue IQ project gathered pace as the massive rehabilitation programme pumped billions of rands into public works.

Crime is reported to be stabilising, but remains frighteningly high with an ever-more-violent dimension. A new study by the Centre for Development and Enterprise found that Johannesburg needs more resources to remain one of 30 ”world cities”.

Mpumalanga, one of the main beneficiaries of tourism, had a mixed year. British tourist Diane Conway was shot dead and her husband critically injured in a petty, unsuccessful robbery. Then a bus full of tourists overturned in Piet Retief, killing 11 people. No respite was in sight when another tourist, Julie Stevens, was raped in a 14-hour ordeal.

But nothing keeps the eager visitors away. Tourism is expected to grow and the province is gearing itself up for the launch of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park. The park will be complemented by a R200-million international airport.

KwaZulu-Natal, the second-most economically important province, contributing 15,5% of the national GDP, retains an undercurrent of tension. Sporadic political murders continue to threaten to drag the province back to the levels of violence experienced in the early 1990s. The political landscape received another shake-up when Premier Lionel Mtshali recently fired two ANC MECs, including the rabid hot-air blower Dumisane Makhaye.

The Eastern Cape still teeters on the brink of disintegration as corruption gnaws away at its resources. Premier Makhenkesi Stofile’s indifference fuels the scourge from the top. The province also suffered the ignominy of having its African National Congress provincial executive committee dissolved after local elections were annulled by the ruling party’s head office. President Thabo Mbeki sent a high-powered delegation to sort out the mess.

The Western Cape, home to the independent Republic of Cape Town, hosted this year’s most outstanding political circus. First Peter Marais moved from premier to mayor before resigning over claims of sexual harassment. Gerald Morkel, his replacement, followed a similar downward slide before resigning early in December.

The Free State remains the place you drive past en route to elsewhere. Under charisma-challenged Premier Winkie Direko the province tried to latch on to the tourism fad, but the move has been, at best, kitschy and ineffective.

The yearly Mangaung Cultural Festival (Macufe) was put on track last year, but this year reverted to being a motley collection of open-air jazz gigs and amateur theatre and a craft fair that relies on charity and novelty.

Limpopo, the province with the fastest-growing economy — it grew at a rate of 6,8% last year — will continue to boom. It played host to a spectacular show by Mother Nature as the best place to view the solar eclipse on December 4. Why people would miss work and drive to a hot and faraway place for a few seconds of darkness, beats us. But Limpopo is richer for it.

North West’s economy shrunk by 1,6% this year, despite its ability to lure tourists with game reserves and the obscene Sun City. Rustenburg is the only growing economic hub in the province. The ANC chose the dorp for its provincial congress early this year. This is one province that can be relied on to throw up prehistoric flashbacks, such as the Boeremag arms cache found in Lichtenburg before the Soweto bombings.

The Northern Cape is an underdeveloped province that has come to be known for family violence and the abuse of women and children, fuelled by alcoholism. The Khoisan people started to engage the provincial government on formal recognition and self-determination. The province is one of the ANC’s strongholds under Premier Manne Dipico.