Residents of Gauteng earn more, are better educated and are likely to live longer than people in other provinces, a South African Institute of Race Relations study has found.
In a report released on Tuesday, it identified ”glaring inequalities” in service delivery and living conditions across the provinces.
This, it submitted, suggested a need for decentralisation of provincial authority, including a degree of autonomy over tax and labour-market regulation.
The move would give less developed provinces the best chance to get a competitive edge over their neighbours and close the development gap.
However, the report noted that proposals to amalgamate provinces were indicative of a policy move in the opposite direction.
It found that in 2006 Gauteng residents earned on average 300% to 400% more than people living in Limpopo.
It projected that by 2010 Gautengers were likely to live 20% longer than people in KwaZulu-Natal, probably because of ”the devastation of HIV/Aids”.
Gauteng also had the most educated population. The 6% of residents holding degrees was almost double the national average.
As the contributor of almost a third of gross domestic product, the province had a ”firmly established” reputation as South Africa’s and Africa’s economic powerhouse.
This made it difficult for provinces such as North West and Limpopo to close the development gap, the study found.
The worst province to live in was the Eastern Cape, according to the report, authored by Chris Kriel.
It had the lowest proportion of formal houses — just over 50% — and a quarter of households relied on bucket toilets.
In the North West there was a 30% increase in the number of households using bucket toilets between 2002 and 2005, while in the Western Cape, 31% of households did not have water in their homes.
The report also identified ”great differences” in the racial breakdown in the country’s nine provinces.
Of the Western Cape’s population, only 23% was black, as opposed to 97% of that in Limpopo.
It pointed out that this had implications for the implementation of black economic empowerment and affirmative action. — Sapa