Quality of life in Gauteng tanks to new low
Life for residents of South Africa’s economic hub, Gauteng, is getting harder.
This was a key finding in the seventh Quality of Life Index survey (QoL7), which the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) has conducted for the past 15 years to measure the quality of life and satisfaction with the government.
Gauteng Province, South Africa’s smallest yet most densely populated province, includes the metros of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane.
Once an industrial hub, it is now the country’s commercial and financial capital, contributing nearly 34% of GDP. The population grew from 12.2 million in 2011 to an estimated 16.1 million in 2022.
The QoL7 for 2023/24 interviewed 13,795 respondents across 529 wards (every ward in Gauteng) to assess progress in seven areas: health, safety, life satisfaction, socio-economic status, services, government satisfaction, and participation.
The GCRO emphasised that data collection occurred before the national and provincial elections and the formation of the seventh administration, “so the results can’t be taken as views on how well the new administrations are doing.”
Regardless, using 33 indicators to provide a comprehensive measure of well-being, the outcomes of the 2023/24 edition declined to their lowest level yet.
Rashid Seedat, the Executive Director of the GCRO said that “despite our hopes, the new data tells us that we’re not doing well.”
He noted that the situation in Gauteng has not fundamentally changed since COVID, with households still under severe pressure from multiple stressors. The pandemic hit a society already grappling with low economic growth, high unemployment, and weakened governance.
Looking at some of the findings, Gauteng residents’ satisfaction with the government is at an all-time low, with only 22% at least ‘satisfied’—down from 41% in 2009.
Dissatisfaction with all spheres of government increased dramatically from 2009 to 2023/24, from 25% to 66%, 29% to 63% and 39% to 65% for national, provincial and local government respectively.
Around 68% of households now say that they do not trust the current leaders of government compared to 54% in 2020/21, and all but one of the metro and local municipalities have experienced a precipitous decline in satisfaction, with an aggregate of just 22%
“Gauteng households are facing a poly-crisis of poverty and unemployment, disruptions to basic services, insecurity as a result of crime and violence, poor physical and mental health outcomes, difficulties with daily mobility and extreme environmental events,” said Seedat.
“Perhaps unsurprisingly, the survey found that satisfaction with all spheres of government has been severely affected,” he added.
Related to this, Gauteng residents’ satisfaction with basic services has significantly declined from 2013/14 to 2023/24, with notable drops in water (84% to 75%), sewerage (78% to 61%), rubbish removal (80% to 64%), energy (78% to 42%), local roads (61% to 37%), and streetlights (59% to 29%).
Two-thirds of households use public health facilities, with a satisfaction rate of 57%, compared to 98% for private healthcare users.
The GCRO regards water provision as a rising risk across the municipalities that make up the province.
Around 64% of respondents said they are worried about Gauteng running out of water.
These concerns are not unfounded. Rand Water recently issued a warning over an impending water crisis due to a critical imbalance between supply and demand, exacerbated by failing municipal infrastructure.
This is seen largely as a result of political instability in various municipalities which has resulted in service delivery taking a back seat to party and individual politics.
Looking at some key concerns, Gauteng residents believe that crime is the most severe problem in their community.
Over 21% of households reported being victims of crime, and there has been a notable increase in the percentage of households feeling unsafe walking at night, rising from 38% in 2015/16 to 57% in 2023/24.
The survey also indicates tough economic conditions in Gauteng for residents, with 85% of respondents saying that it is harder to find work now than it was five years ago.
While poverty rates have improved from their pandemic peak, they remain higher than pre-COVID levels, with 23% of households living below the ‘lower bound poverty line’ of R1,058 per person per month in 2023.
This figure rose to 33% during Covid, but the recovery is incomplete, as poverty levels exceed those recorded in the pre-pandemic survey of 2017/18 (18%).
As a result, a quarter of respondents indicated that an adult in their household skipped meals in the past year due to financial constraints.
In response, the GCRO observed that Gauteng households have coped in various ways:
- Social protection has improved, with 32% of households receiving the R350 SRD grant, up from 23% during the pandemic;
- The percentage of households receiving a social grant rose from 30% in 2011 to 50% in 2023/24;
- While 85% believe that it is harder to find a job, 54% indicate that formal employment provides income, compared to 41% in 2011;
- Nearly half (48%) of households reported that children benefit from a school feeding scheme, increasing from 28% in 2017/18 and 44% in 2020/21.
Seedat said that “the reason that development outcomes in the province have been compromised is that Gauteng, like many places in the world, has had to manage a succession of shocks and crises.”
“The Covid-19 pandemic arrived in a society already struggling with low economic growth, acute unemployment levels and weakened governance capacity.”
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