Gauteng Province

Gauteng is a province of South Africa. The province was formed from part of the old Transvaal province, after South Africa's first all-race elections in April 27 1994. It was initially named Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging (or PWV) and was renamed Gauteng in December 1994.

Situated in the heart of the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province in South Africa at only 1.4% of the land area, but it is highly urbanised and has a population of 8,837,178 (according to the 2001 census), second-largest after KwaZulu-Natal.

The name Gauteng comes from the seSotho phrase meaning Place of Gold, referring to the thriving gold industry in the province following the 1886 discovery of gold in Johannesburg. The Sesotho phrase was in turn derived from the Afrikaans goud (gold) plus the locative suffix ng. When properly pronounced, the first letter of the name Gauteng is a guttural G, pronounced similarly to the ch in the German achtung or Scottish loch. This guttural pronunciation is natural in both the Sesotho and Afrikaans languages.

Table of contents

1 History 2 Geography 3 Fauna and flora 4 Law and government 5 Economy 6 Demographics 7 Major cities and towns 8 Colleges and universities 9 Sport 10 External links

History

Geography

Fauna and flora

Economy

Demographics

Population groups				Languages Spoken
African	73.8%			IsiZulu	21.5%
White	19.9%			Afrikaans	14.4%
Coloured	3.8%			Sesotho	13.1%
Asian	2.5%			English	12.5%

Major cities and towns

• Alberton
• Benoni
• Boksburg
• Bryanston
• Heidelberg
• Johannesburg
• Pretoria
• Randburg
• Roodepoort
• Sandton
• Soweto
• Springs
• Vanderbjilpark
• Vereeniging

• Medical University of SA
• Midrand Graduate Institute
• Tshwane University of Technology merger of Technikon Pretoria, Technikon Northern Gauteng and Technikon North-West
• University of Johannesburg merger of Rand Afrikaans University, some Johannesburg campuses of Vista University and Technikon Witwatersrand
• University of Pretoria
• University of South Africa also known as UNISA incorporating the Technikon South Africa
• Vaal University of Technology previously known as Vaal Triangle Technikon
• University of the Witwatersrand

Rugby, or more accurately Rugby Union, is a popular sport in South Africa, and in Gauteng in particular. Two Rugby teams from Gauteng participate in the Super 12 championship: the Pretoria-based Bulls, and the Johannesburg-based Cats.

Soccer football is also popular in South Africa. Several teams from Gauteng play in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), including the Kaizer Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates.

• Vodacom Cup

• [1] ANC news briefing about the selection of the name Gauteng in December 1994, and the arguments that preceded this decision.
• Gauteng Provincial Government homepage.
• Gauteng Tourism Authority homepage.
• South Africa Statistics including the 2001 census figures.