South African Business 2017 edition

REGION
A A REGIONAL OVERVIEW OF OFTHE
WESTERN CAPE
WESTERN CAPE
The Western Cape stretches from the dry northwestern
coast to the heavily-forested Garden
Route regions of the southern Cape via the
rugged mountains of the Cedarberg, the rolling
winelands of the Boland and the Overberg, the fertile
valleys of the Klein Karoo and the wide plains of the
Great Karoo. The province and the region are most
commonly associated with Table Mountain, which
watches over the city of Cape Town and forms a
national park of its own.
The Western Cape is very well served with infrastructure.
Three ports at Saldanha, Cape Town
and Mossel Bay serve different markets and Cape
Town International Airport and George Airport see
to air travel needs. The Cape Town International
Convention Centre is the province’s leading facility
in the events and conference field, which is an area
of growth for the province.
The major contributors to the Western Cape’s
gross domestic product (GDP) are services (58.2%),
agriculture and agri-processing (8.1%) and manufacturing
(6.9%). A traditional strength of the Cape, financial
services, makes up 10.9% of the services basket.
Saldanha on the West Coast is one of South
Africa’s busiest ports. Apart from being home to
several trawler fleets, it is the principal iron-ore
export port and is gearing itself to service the
continent’s oil and gas industry and to be a steel
manufacturing hub. Mining is becoming an increasingly
important sector, with titanium, zirconium,
phosphate and limestone being among the most
important finds in the region.
A country that is gaining investment momentum
in the Western Cape is China, with Hisense
being one of the most important investors. This
Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics
and household appliances opened a 25 200m 2
factory in Atlantis – an area some 40km outside
of Cape Town, on the West Coast.
For many years, Cape Town was known as the
home of financial services industry with insurers
in particular choosing to house their head offices
in the city. Many of South Africa’s and Africa’s largest
retailers have their offices in and around Cape
Town, including Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Clicks and
Woolworths.
The trend is now continuing with a new generation
of companies such as Takealot and Yuppiechef.
Nearly 70% of South Africa’s wine comes from
the Winelands District area (Stellenbosch, Paarl,
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