Foreigners are flocking to this province in South Africa

South Africa is still a popular immigration hotspot, with many foreigners drawn to Gauteng as their destination.

Despite recent reports suggesting that Cape Town is the preferred destination for immigrants and semigrants (provincial migrants), Gauteng still sees the most movement.

According to the latest Census 2022 provincial data, Gauteng is comfortably the most populated province in the country, with 15.8 million inhabitants.

However, only 9.5 million people who live in Gauteng were born in the inland province.

By contrast, 11.6 million of KwaZulu-Natal’s 12.4 million permanent residents were born in the coastal province.

Gauteng is clearly a migration and semigration hub, with roughly a third of residents coming from other areas.

Overall, 1.1 million people born outside of the country live in Gauteng.

This is far more than the second place Western Cape, where only 368,000 foreigners live.

In addition, Gauteng has a huge population from other parts of the country, with 1.3 million people from Limpopo living in the country’s economic hub.

The vast majority of migrants from KZN also move to Gauteng, with 738,000 making the journey.

That said, Gautengers are still more likely to move to the Western Cape than vice versa, with 241,000 moving to the Cape, while only 98,000 moved the other way.

Bang for your buck

Although Stats SA’s data is slightly dated, Johannesburg, the capital of Gauteng and the nation’s most populated city, continues to see a large influx of people migrating to the big city in search of economic opportunities, with many finding good value for property.

Agents from the Seeff Property Group said that Johannesburg was the most affordable metro in the country for buying and renting.

Lightstone data shows that the average transaction price for the metro is roughly R1.2 million, which is below the national average of R1.3 million.

Pretoria’s average is only slightly above this.

Affordability is a major feature of Johannesburg’s property market. The data shows that almost 77% of 2024’s transactions so far have been below the R1.5 million price mark, with almost half (47%) of these below R700,000.

Gauteng has also been buoyed by the reverse emigration of South African expats, with many returning home after years abroad.

Rory O’Hagan from Chas Everitt previously said that the Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg are extremely sought-after by returning homebuyers, as they offer good value for money and are close to Sandton.

“The Cape Town and Johannesburg markets often find themselves at different stages of the property cycle, and while semigration has played a role in causing prices in Cape Town’s most favoured areas to rocket over the past three years, those in Johannesburg have simultaneously moderated,” said O’Hagan

“Sellers in the luxury sector are now often willing, after price counselling, to accept 30% or even 40% less than when their properties were listed.”

“Meanwhile, returning expats are really diving into the sub-luxury sector between R5 million and R10 million as they realise just how much house they can buy for their money in Johannesburg.”

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