Report on inequality in SA property hits home

Eastern Cape has shown the country's lowest population growth

Of South Africa’s just more than 17-million households, 41% live in formal housing while 59% live in informal dwellings or with other families.

This is reflected in property trends data provider Lightstone Property’s latest provincial analysis of the property market.

“Lightstone’s analysis of provincial data provides a snapshot of South Africa’s property market which highlights widely different ratios of formal to informal housing from one province to another, where age and wealth groups live and the volume and value of properties transacted,” said Livingstone Property digital head Hayley Ivins-downes.

The analysis found the Western Cape has the highest percentage of households living in formally registered properties (61%).

Limpopo has the lowest percentage (15%), which means 85% of households live in informal accommodation.

The data shows Limpopo’s population is growing at 3%, probably due to significant migration of those seeking work elsewhere.

The North West (28%) and Mpumalanga (31%) are next lowest in formal households, while the Free State (60%) is just behind the Western Cape and ahead of the Northern Cape (55%).

Just more than 16-million (27%) of South Africa’s 60.5million people live in Gauteng, while 11.5-million (19%) live in Kwazulu-natal and 7.2-million (12%) in the Western Cape.

The Northern Cape is least populated with 1.3-million (2%) people, followed by the Free State with 2.9-million (5%) and the North West with 4.1million (7%), Mpumalanga with 4.7-million (8%), Limpopo with 5.9-million (10%) and the Eastern Cape with 6.6-million (11%).

Three provinces recorded population increases from 2011 to 2022 above the national average of 17%, while one province — Mpumalanga — was in step with the national average.

“Gauteng (31%), the Western Cape (24%) and the North West (20%) have grown above 17%, suggesting inward movement of people from other provinces for a variety of reasons — in some cases lifestyle changes as people search for greater safety and security or better service delivery, but in most cases the imbalance suggests people moving to provinces where there is a greater perceived prospect of work.

“The movement of job seekers to Gauteng and the Western Cape is well documented — Gauteng is the country’s economic and political hub while the Western Cape has a growing reputation as the country’s best run province and is increasingly attractive to semigrants and those who can work remotely,” said Ivins-downes.

The Eastern Cape (2%) has shown the least population growth, followed by the Free State (7%), Limpopo (10%), KZN (12%) and the Northern Cape (14%).

“Poor economic prospects have affected these provinces and the steady flow of people to Gauteng, the Western Cape and North West is evidence of this.

“Young people (under 18 years of age) are the largest age group in all provinces, followed by those 18 to 30 — except in Gauteng where the 30 to 40 age group are second. “Young people make up just 28% in Gauteng, the province whose population is growing most strongly in percentage terms ahead of the national average.

“The young, plus under 30 age group (20%) in Gauteng account for 48%, while the over 60s for only 7.5% — which means the most economically productive 30-60 age group accounts for 44.5% of people in the province.”

“This is significantly different in Limpopo, where young people account for 39% of the population and this rises to 61% if under 30s are added. Over 60s make up about 8.5%, which leaves just more than 30% in the most economically productive 30-60 age group — nearly 15% less than in Gauteng,” said Ivins-downes.

Using Gauteng and Limpopo as proxies for the nine provinces, “it suggests the economically stronger provinces have greater numbers in the middle ages while the economically weaker provinces have proportionately more younger and older people and less of those in the most productive economic years”.