Waterberg District &
Limpopo River Basin (South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe)

Socio-Economic Development

Three sectors dominate Waterberg's economy: mining, tourism, and agriculture. The district is a critical mining region in South Africa due to its abundance of platinum, iron ore, coal, and diamonds. As a result, the mining sector reached a gross added value of 56% in 2018. Nonetheless, Waterberg's general economic growth (measured by GDP) shrunk, with an annual growth rate of -0.57% (Department of Environmental Affairs, n.d.).

The mining sector employs about 33% of the workforce, 17% are employed in trade, and only 7.1% are working in the agricultural sector, even though Waterberg district has the largest share of agricultural areas within the Limpopo Province (Department of Environmental Affairs, n.d.).

Household Characteristics

There are 211,471 households in the municipality, with an average household size of 3.5. About 85% of the households were formal dwellings, and 15% of families living in informal structures or shacks (Stats SA, 2016). In the Limpopo Province, only 4.83% of households are informal dwellings (Department of Environmental Affairs, n.d.).

There are more males than females in the age category of 25-44 living in the municipality. Commonly, young males migrate to Waterberg District Municipality and, in particular, to the city of Lephalale, looking for jobs in the mining and energy sector. However, the district's unemployment rate was 28.8% in 2018. In addition, it is important to stress that Waterberg District has a Gini coefficient of 0.609, indicating very high-income inequality (Department of Environmental Affairs, n.d.).

 

References:

Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (n.d.): Waterberg Profile. Available at: https://www.cogta.gov.za/ddm/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Take2_2020.06.15-WATERBERG-DISTRICT-PROFILE-Edited-Version-final_V1.pdf

Stats SA (2016): Waterberg District Municipality. Published via: https://municipalities.co.za/demographic/130/waterberg-district-municipality

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