Gauteng Investment Conference aims to drive growth, but can province still be called SA's economic engine?

Can the province of Gauteng still claim to be the engine room of South Africa's economy?

In his address at the Gauteng Investment Conference 2026, Premier Panyaza Lesufi emphasised the central role the province plays in transforming the economy of the country and the continent.

He also reiterated that in getting the basics right in local and provincial government, Gauteng will attract partnerships and investment that drive inclusive economic growth for all.

The Conference brings together leaders, investors and partners to "unlock opportunities, drive economic growth and shape the future of Gauteng's economy".

Stephen Grootes gets some insight from Justin Visagie, Associate Professor at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Asked whether the perception that Cape Town is now attracting more people and business than Gauteng is accurate, Prof. Visagie says they want to do more research to establish if this theory actually holds up.

At this point, it is speculation whether there is a reorientation towards Cape Town, with a lot of media attention around certain firms and workers relocating there en masse.

However, what is clear, he says, is that just in terms of the growth performance of Cape Town versus the Gauteng metros, the coastal city has emerged as a clear winner over the last ten years.

"Look, we're still talking about fairly modest levels of growth - at best 3% in a particular period, but this is still a lot stronger than Joburg, which for a long period of time has sometimes struggled to reach even half a percent. So the performance of Joburg and the big cities in Gauteng metros certainly has been a concern when you look at the data over the last ten years."

Visagie says it is important to understand the composition of industry as this has big implications for the prospects of a particular industry and then the prospects of the region.

He believes the best thing for Cape Town and the Western Cape is probably to have a thriving Joburg, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Gauteng:

"We shouldn't see it as an either/or, as the national economy won't grow if you can't get all of South Africa's major regions to grow."

He does allude to something of an identity crisis in Gauteng as industry there has shifted away from what's historically been mining activity and related activity like steel production, cement and chemicals.

The country also no longer has the cheap energy it did to drive competitiveness in these sectors, he points out, so they have been eroding with resulting deindustrialisation in Gauteng.

The important question is how the economy of the province can evolve to start growing again, he says.

For more on the future of the economy of Gauteng, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article