Economic geography of South Africa notes

The structure of an economy describes how economic activity is divided among the economic sectors, and how much each sector adds to production and jobs. In South Africa, services now produce the…

Agriculture is a primary activity that feeds people, supplies factories with raw materials and earns money from exports. Its share of GDP is small, but it is very important for food, rural jobs and…

Mining is a primary activity that is far more important to South Africa than its share of GDP suggests. It built the country's cities, railways and labour system. It still earns foreign exchange and…

The secondary sector processes raw materials and manufactures goods. The tertiary sector sells, transports, finances and manages them. Together they produce most of South Africa's GDP and provide…

South Africa's industries are not spread evenly across the country. They are concentrated in four core industrial regions: Gauteng (PWV), Durban–Pinetown, Port Elizabeth–Uitenhage (Gqeberha–Kariega)…

Industry did not simply grow by itself in the four core regions: governments tried to steer where it developed. This section covers the apartheid-era Good Hope Plan, the post-apartheid RDP and GEAR…

An Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) is a particular place: a serviced industrial estate. A Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) is a whole region or corridor. This section explains the difference…

A Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) develops a whole corridor or region, not a fenced industrial park. After apartheid, the government used SDIs to develop areas that already had advantages, such…

Many South Africans earn a living in the informal sector: street trading, spaza shops, hair salons at home, collecting waste for recycling, and casual jobs such as painting, gardening and car…