Gauteng Business 2022/23
The 2022/23 edition of Gauteng Business is the 13th issue of this highly successful publication that has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Gauteng Province. In addition to the regular articles providing insight into each of the key economic sectors of the province, a special feature on the growth and significance of the green economy is included in this edition. Every sector from agriculture to transport and logistics is referenced, with several Gauteng companies taking the lead in the field of creating a more sustainable future for themselves and for their clients. The fact that mining companies and others are starting to build facilities to generate power is significant for the country as a whole. Gold Fields’ 40MW solar project at its South Deep mine is one of the first of its kind and it is certainly a precursor of what we can expect to see a lot more of in the future. The unexpected fall from power in the province’s three big metropolitan municipalities in 2021 of the political party that is in charge at provincial and national level, the African National Congress, is noted in the Regional Overview. Whether this presages a change beyond the borders of Gauteng in elections to come remains to be seen, but the huge budgets which now fall under the control of coalition governments in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni will certainly serve to sharpen the focus of ANC election planners for national elections in 2024.
The 2022/23 edition of Gauteng Business is the 13th issue of this highly successful publication that has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Gauteng Province.
In addition to the regular articles providing insight into each of the key economic sectors of the province, a special feature on the growth and significance of the green economy is included in this edition. Every sector from agriculture to transport and logistics is referenced, with several Gauteng companies taking the lead in the field of creating a more sustainable future for themselves and for their clients. The fact that mining companies and others are starting to build facilities to generate power is significant for the country as a whole. Gold Fields’ 40MW solar project at its South Deep mine is one of the first of its kind and it is certainly a precursor of what we can expect to see a lot more of in the future.
The unexpected fall from power in the province’s three big metropolitan municipalities in 2021 of the political party that is in charge at provincial and national level, the African National Congress, is noted in the Regional Overview. Whether this presages a change beyond the borders of Gauteng in elections to come remains to be seen, but the huge budgets which now fall under the control of coalition governments in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni will certainly serve to sharpen the focus of ANC election planners for national elections in 2024.
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
A REGIONAL OVERVIEW OF<br />
GAUTENG<br />
The diamond mine at Cullinan is renowned as a source of large, high-quality gem diamonds, including Type II stones, as<br />
well as being the world’s most important source of very rare blue diamonds. Credit: Petra Diamonds<br />
All of <strong>Gauteng</strong>’s metropolitan municipalities came under coalition<br />
governments after the local elections held in 2021. Voters are<br />
indicating they are fed up with corruption. It is at municipal level<br />
that citizens and businesses feel the effects of inefficiency and<br />
corruption and it is that sphere of government that needs the<br />
most work in the short term.<br />
By John Young<br />
The municipal elections held in South<br />
Africa in 2021 resulted in councillors in 66<br />
municipalities having to form coalitions<br />
to create majorities. Among these were<br />
<strong>Gauteng</strong>’s three metropolitan municipalities,<br />
Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.<br />
These three cities represent, respectively,<br />
the economic centre of the national economy,<br />
the seat of the executive government and the<br />
manufacturing hub of the country. South Africa’s<br />
governing party, the African National Congress<br />
(ANC), the party of Nelson Mandela and the<br />
struggle for freedom from apartheid, recorded<br />
a vastly reduced vote count across the country.<br />
In the three <strong>Gauteng</strong> metros, the opposition<br />
Democratic Alliance was able to cobble together<br />
coalitions with five other parties to take over the<br />
mayoralties. These will not be stable coalitions –<br />
some of the ideological differences are big – but<br />
they have certainly put the ANC on notice that<br />
it can’t take things for granted in the run-up to<br />
national elections, which are due in 2024.<br />
If this strengthens the hand of the group<br />
within the ANC that wants to root out corruption,<br />
surely a big reason for the party losing support,<br />
then the country and the province will benefit.<br />
The country’s biggest opposition party, the<br />
Democratic Alliance, controls both the biggest<br />
metropolitan municipality and the provincial<br />
government in the Western Cape but the ANC<br />
still has a solid majority in the <strong>Gauteng</strong> provincial<br />
legislature. Various levels of government have<br />
departments called “Cooperative Governance”: with<br />
different parties in power at municipal and provincial<br />
level, that concept will be brought into play and the<br />
maturity of the political leaders will be tested.<br />
GAUTENG BUSINESS <strong>2022</strong><br />
8
Change language