Eastern Cape
“Our people leave their homes to go to places like Cape Town, even if they have to stay in shacks, to get some income.” Eastern Cape MEC of finance, Sakhumzi Somyo.
Eastern Cape
Stats SA has released its mid-year population estimates for 2018, which includes a report on provincial migration streams, dating back to 2006. The results show that over 1.5 million people have left the Eastern Cape in search of greener pastures elsewhere in South Africa.
In what is the largest recorded case of rural to urban migration in present-day South Africa, the statistics point to the Eastern Cape losing millions of residents to business hubs, namely, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
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This isn’t a recent phenomenon, nor is it reserved to South Africa – internal migration is, by definition, the movement of people from one area to another, within the nation-state.
This form of migration is usually an act of necessity – relocation in search of better socioeconomic opportunities, mainly related to education and employment.
Within the South African context, the Eastern Cape accounts for the largest amount of out-migrants in the country, while the Western Cape accounts for the most in-migrants, only just topping the Gauteng province.
Stats SA record that, over the last 12 years, almost 140 000 citizens have migrated from the Eastern Cape to the Western Cape. Furthermore, just over 132 000 people born in the Eastern Cape have migrated to the Gauteng province.
The obvious reason for such high numbers of internal migration relates to infrastructure and better employment opportunities. The Eastern Cape is a largely rural district, with limited opportunities for financial sustainability.
Interestingly enough, while the total population of the Eastern Cape exceeded that of the Western Province in 2016 – 7 million compared to 6.5 million, respectively – statistics show that the tables have now turned.
The Western Province has a total population of 6.6 million people, while the Eastern Cape now has 6.5 million.
Stats SA – Total population according to provinces:
According to a report by Fin24, out-migration has cost the Eastern Cape R13 billion in current equitable share.
Eastern Cape MEC of finance, Sakhumzi Somyo, had this to say on the issue of migration:
“We must make our people feel at home. We must have an economic development programme that encourages people to stay in their rural homes, rather than leave for urban centres.
In the current dispensation, our people leave their homes to go to places like Cape Town, even if they have to stay in shacks, to get some income.
They take their kids away from the province. That is why the Eastern Cape has lost about R13 billion in the current equitable share. It is because of that migration.
Our people leave the province and the funding formula from the national budget or public fiscus is about numbers in terms of the population.”