Gauteng, the South African province that’s home to Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria, is struggling to grow and its shift from manufacturing and mining to a services hub is deepening inequality. “If we can’t get Gauteng right, we can’t get South Africa right,” Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi told an event in Johannesburg to launch the report. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergGauteng’s stagnation is at the heart of the struggle to boost growth in Africa’s most industrialized economy, which has languished for more than a decade. Finance Curse“Gauteng, despite its role as South Africa’s economic core and contributor of over one-third of national gross domestic product, is trapped in a cycle of stagnant growth, rampant unemployment, and deepening inequality,” the report said. Gauteng’s unemployment at 34.4% — above the national average — and youth unemployment of 54% is “a profound crisis of exclusion and wasted potential,” the report said.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 19, 2026 11:05 UTC