Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality is in the Amathole District of the Eastern Cape Province, on the eastern coast of South Africa.  Consisting of the towns of East London, King William’s Town, Mdantsane, Zwelitsha and Bhisho, the municipality was named after the Buffalo River, which flows through East London.

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is located on the south- eastern coast of Africa in the Eastern Cape.  It is one of eight category A municipalities in South Africa.  In 2001, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality was formed as an administrative area covering Port Elizabeth, the neighbouring towns of Uitenhage and Despatch, and the surrounding agricultural areas.  Nelson Mandela Bay is a major seaport and automotive manufacturing centre.

The Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) is situated within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality.  The initiative is a multibillion-dollar industrial development complex customized for heavy, medium and light industries.  It is adjacent to a deepwater port, the Port of Ngqura, and covers 110 km² of land.  The city’s unique advantage of possessing two ports, namely Port Elizabeth Harbour and Ngqura, creates an opportunity for the city to establish a strong and vibrant maritime sector.

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality occupies 1 975km2of the land area in the province of Gauteng (Wikipedia).  The name Ekurhuleni means ‘place of peace’ in Tsonga (Wikipedia), and the municipality is one of three metropolitan municipalities within Gauteng.  Ekurhuleni is also home to South Africa’s largest airport, OR Tambo International Airport, which is located in the Kempton Park area.

Ekurhuleni is highly urbanised, with 99,4% of the population living in urban settlements ranging from informal settlements to elite urban residential suburbs.  A number of large urbanised townships, such as Katlehong and Tokoza, also occupy the landscape.

The City of Tshwane is the capital of South Africa and is the largest municipality, as measured by land mass. Tshwane is amongst the six largestmetropolitan municipalities in South Africa and the second largest in Gauteng, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Tshwane regioncovers 6 368km² of Gauteng’s 19 055km² and houses approximately 2,9million residents.Tshwane consists of seven regions with 105 wards and 210 councillors.

The City has a vibrant and diverse economy, which enables it to contribute at least 26,8% of the Gauteng Province’s GDP and 9,4% of the GDP of the national economy.  Tshwane is the administrative capital of South Africa and is home to the Union Buildings with government-related business playing an important role in the local economy.  As a result, the city is taking active measures to firmly position itself as Africa's leading capital city of excellence.  The municipality's main economic sectors are community services and government, followed by finance and manufacturing.  Metal products, machinery and household products are the largest sub-sectors within manufacturing.  The City has a well-established manufacturing sector, with the automotive industry representing the most significant component.

uMshwathi Municipality is situated within uMgungundlovu District Municipality immediately adjacent to Pietermaritzburg. uMshwathi comprises of four major urban centres (New Hanover, Wartburg, Dalton and Cool Air) as well as the rural residential settlements of Swayimane, Mpolweni, Thokozani and Ozwathini. uMshwathi covers an area of about 1 811 km². Economic development opportunities at uMshwathi include the rehabilitation and development of the towns, middle and high-income housing projects as well as development of a road corridor linking the N2 and N3 by traversing the municipality.The importance of agriculture in uMshwathi cannot be overemphasized. Sugar cane is the predominant agricultural pursuit. Manufacturing activities are mainly related to agricultural processing activities, notably sugar and timber processing activities.read more »

The diverse structure of the South African economy is a critical aspect of its historical and current growth performance.  The manufacturing sector continues to occupy a significant share of the South Africa economy, despite its relative importance declining from 19 percent in 1993 to about 17 percent in 2012 in real terms.

In line with structural changes in many economies, it not surprising to observe that the finance, real estate and business services sector has increase its relative importance of 17 per cent in 1993 to approximately 24 per cent in 2012. These two sectors and a few more are an important part of the South African growth story since the dawn of democracy.

Despite that, less than a decade into the 21st century, many countries, including South Africa, experienced the global economic crisis.This has affected economic growth in South Africa over the last four years, prompting a deceleration in rate of economic growth.

South Africa experienced an average growth rate of approximately 5 per cent in real terms between 2004 and 2007. However, the period 2008 to 2012 only recorded average growth just above 2 per cent; largely a result of the global economic recession.

Of the nine provinces in South Africa, three power houses stand out. Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal and Western Cape collectively contribute a significant portion to the country’s value added, reported at over 60 percent.

The diverse structure of the South African economy is a critical aspect of its historical and current growth performance. The manufacturing sector continues to occupy a significant share of the South Africa economy, despite its relative importance declining from 19 percent in 1993 to about 17 percent in 2012 in real terms. In line with structural changes in many economies, it not surprising to observe that the finance, real estate and business services sector has increase its relative importance of 17 per cent in 1993 to approximately 24 per cent in 2012. These two sectors and a few more are an important part of the South African growth story since the dawn of democracy.read more »