About two-thirds of the province's residents live in the metropolitan area ofCape Town, which is also the provincial capital, and South Africa's second-largest city. The Western Cape was created in 1994 from part of the formerCape Province. The two largest cities areCape Town andGeorge.
The Western Cape is generally regarded as thebest-run of South Africa's provinces, with a robust system of governance, proactive administration, high qualityinfrastructure, and strong political and civil accountability.[8][9] The province also has South Africa's highestsecondary educationgraduation rate.[10] In the 2024 Governance Performance Index (GPI), the Western Cape achieved the highest scores across all categories, by a significant margin.[11]
Cape Town, the capital of the Western Cape, has the country's highest household incomes,[12] lowest rate of unemployment,[13] highest level of infrastructure investment,[14] strongest service delivery performance,[15] largest tourism appeal,[16] and most robust real estate market.[17]
Topography of the Western Cape. The Roggeveld and Nuweveld mountains are part of theGreat Escarpment (see diagrams below). The other mountain ranges belong to theCape Fold Belt, also shown in the diagrams below. The Western Cape's inland boundary lies for the most part at the foot of the Great Escarpment.
The Western Cape is roughly L-shaped, extending north and east from theCape of Good Hope, in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It stretches about 400 kilometres (250 mi) northwards along the Atlantic coast and about 500 kilometres (300 mi) eastwards along the South African south coast (Southern Indian Ocean). It is bordered on the north by theNorthern Cape and on the east by theEastern Cape.
The total land area of the province is 129,462 square kilometres (49,986 sq mi),[1]: 9 about 10.6% of the country's total. It is roughly the size ofEngland or theState of Louisiana. Its capital city and largest city isCape Town, and some other major cities includeStellenbosch,Worcester,Paarl, andGeorge. TheGarden Route and theOverberg are popular coastal tourism areas.
The Western Cape is the southernmost region of the African continent withCape Agulhas as its southernmost point, only 3,800 kilometres (2,400 mi) from the Antarctic coastline. The coastline varies from sandy between capes, to rocky to steep and mountainous in places. The only natural harbour isSaldanha Bay on the west coast, about 140 kilometres (90 mi) north of Cape Town. However a lack of fresh water in the region meant that it has only recently been used as a harbour.[citation needed]
The province's main harbour was built inTable Bay, which in its natural state was fully exposed to the northwesterly storms that bring rain to the province in winter, as well as the almost uninterrupted dry southeasterly winds in summer. But fresh water coming offTable Mountain andDevil's Peak allowed the early European settlers to build Cape Town on the shores of this less than satisfactory anchorage.
The province is topographically exceptionally diverse. Most of the province falls within theCape Fold Belt, a set of nearly parallel ranges ofsandstone folded mountains ofCambrian-Ordovician age (the age of the rocks is from 510 to about 330 million years ago; their folding into mountains occurred about 350 to about 270 million years ago).[18][19][20]
The height of the mountain peaks in the different ranges varies from 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) to 2,300 metres (7,500 ft). The valleys between ranges are generally very fertile, as they contain the weathered loamy soils of theBokkeveld mudstones (see the diagrams below).[19]
The far interior forms part of theKaroo. This region of the province is generally arid and hilly, with aprominent escarpment that runs close to the Province's most inland boundary.
A diagrammatic 400 km south–north crosssection through the Cape at approximately 21° 30' E (i.e. nearCalitzdorp in the Little Karoo), showing the relationship between theCape Fold Mountains (and their geological structure) and thegeology of the Little and Great Karoo, as well as the position of theGreat Escarpment. The colour code for the geological layers is the same as those used in the diagram above. The heavy black line flanked by opposing arrows is the fault that runs for nearly 300 km along the southern edge of theSwartberg Mountains. The Swartberg Mountain range owes some of its great height to upliftment along this fault line. The subsurface structures are not to scale.
Theescarpment marks the southwestern edge ofSouth Africa's central plateau (see the middle and bottom diagrams on the left).[19][21] It runs parallel to the entire South African coastline, except in the very far northeast, where it is interrupted by theLimpopo River valley, and in the far northwest, where it is interrupted by theOrange River valley. The 1,000-kilometre-long (620 mi) northeastern stretch of the escarpment is called theDrakensberg, which is geographically and geologically quite distinct from theCape Fold Mountains, which originated much earlier and totally independently of the origin of the escarpment.[19][20][22][23]
The principal rivers of the province are theBerg andOlifants which drain into the Atlantic Ocean, and theBreede andGourits which drain into the Indian Ocean.
The Red Disa (disa uniflora) is an orchid endemic to the Western Cape. It is the province's official flower.
TheCape Floral Kingdom is one of the world's most diverse, and is found exclusively in the Cape.
The vegetation of the region is also extremely diverse, with one of the world's sixfloral kingdoms almost exclusively endemic to the province, namely theCape Floral Kingdom, most of which is covered byFynbos (from the Afrikaans meaning "Fine Bush" (Dutch: Fijnbos), though precisely how it came to be referred to as such, is uncertain.).[24][25]
These evergreen heathlands are extremely rich in species diversity,[24][25] with at least as many plant species occurring onTable Mountain as in the entire United Kingdom.[25] It is characterised by various types of shrubs, thousands of herbaceous flowering plant species and some grasses.[24] With the exception of the Silver tree,Leucadendron argenteum, which only grows on the granite and clay soils of theCape Peninsula,[26] open fynbos is generally treeless except in the wetter mountain ravines where patches ofAfromontane forest persist.[24][25]
The Western Cape is climatologically diverse, with many distinct micro- and macroclimates created by the varied topography and the influence of the surrounding ocean currents. These are the warmAgulhas Current which flows southwards along South Africa's east coast, and the coldBenguela Current which is an upwelling current from the depths of theSouth Atlantic Ocean along South Africa's west coast.[27][28]
Thus, climatic statistics can vary greatly over short distances. Most of the province is considered to have aMediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers.
Both theGreat Karoo and Little Karoo, in the interior, have anarid tosemi-arid climate with cold, frosty winters and hot summers with occasionalthunderstorms. TheGarden Route and theOverberg on the south coast have a maritime climate with cool, moist winters and mild, moist summers.Mossel Bay in the Garden Route is considered[by whom?] to have the second mildest climate worldwide after Hawaii.[citation needed] The La Niña phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation cycle tends to increase rainfall in this region in the dry season (November to April).[29]
The effects of El Niño on rainfall in southern Africa differ between the summer and winter rainfall areas. Winter rainfall areas tend to get higher rainfall than normal and summer rainfall areas tend to get less rain. The effect on the summer rainfall areas is stronger and has led to severe drought in strong El Niño events.[30][31]
Sea surface temperatures off the west and south coasts of South Africa are affected by ENSO via changes in surface wind strength.[32] During El Niño the south-easterly winds driving upwelling are weaker which results in warmer coastal waters than normal, while during La Niña the same winds are stronger and cause colder coastal waters.
These effects on the winds are part of large scale influences on the tropical Atlantic and theSouth Atlantic High-pressure system, and changes to the pattern of westerly winds further south. There are other influences not known to be related to ENSO of similar importance. Some ENSO events do not lead to the expected changes.[32]
Thunderstorms are generally rare in the province (except in theKaroo) with most precipitation being of afrontal ororographic nature. Extremes of heat and cold are common inland, but rare near the coast. Snow is a common winter occurrence on theWestern Cape Mountains occasionally reaching down into the more inland valleys. Otherwise, frost is relatively rare in coastal areas and many of the heavily cultivated valleys.
The Cape Qualified Franchise was the system of non-racialfranchise that was adhered to in theCape Colony, and in theCape Province in the early years of theUnion of South Africa. Qualifications for the right to vote at parliamentary elections were applied equally to all men, regardless of race.
TheBlack Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. The BCM represented a social movement for political consciousness.[37]
In December 1968, theSouth African Student Organization (SASO) was formed at a conference held in Marianhill, Natal. The conference was exclusively attended by Black students. After its launch, SASO became the medium through which black consciousness ideology spread to schools and other university campuses across the country.[38]
In 1974, South African Minister of Bantu Education and Development MC Botha, constituted the imposition of usingAfrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools, effective with students in Grade 7 (Standard 5) upwards.[39] As early as March 1976, students began passive resistance against Afrikaans, fueling the outbreak of theSoweto Uprising on 16 June 1976. Consequently, the student protests spread to other parts of the country, andCape Town became a pivotal site for Western Cape student revolt.[40]
On 1 September 1976, the unrest spread to the city of Cape Town itself. Approximately 2000 black students from Western Cape townships, namely Langa, Nyanga and Gugulethu, matched the Cape Town central business district (CBD). Coloured students also contributed to the protests by peacefully marching to the city, but were blockaded by the police in the CBD. The protests turned violent when coloured students started burning schools, libraries and a magistrate's court in support of the student revolt. Thereafter, 200,000 coloured workers partook in a two-day strike staying away from work in the Cape Town area.[citation needed]
According to a report by theTruth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the Western Cape experienced the second highest number of deaths and casualties associated with the 1976 uprising protests.[41]
In the 1994 election, the Western Cape was one of two provinces that did not elect anAfrican National Congress (ANC) provincial government (the other beingKwaZulu-Natal). TheNational Party (NP) won 53% of the votes and 23 seats in the 42-seat provincial legislature, andHernus Kriel, a former Minister of Law and Order, was electedPremier. He resigned in 1998 and was replaced byGerald Morkel.
The1999 election marked the beginning of a period of great turbulence in Western Cape politics. No party achieved an absolute majority in the provincial parliament, as the ANC won 18 seats while theNew National Party (NNP), successor to the NP, won 17. The NNP went into coalition with theDemocratic Party (DP), which won 5 seats, to form a government, and Morkel remained Premier. In 2000 the DP and the NNP formalised their coalition by forming theDemocratic Alliance (DA).
In 2001, however, the NNP broke with the DA over the removal ofPeter Marais from office asMayor of Cape Town by DA leaderTony Leon. The NNP instead went into coalition with the ANC; Gerald Morkel, who was opposed to the split, resigned as Premier and was replaced by Peter Marais. In 2002 Marais resigned as Premier due to a sexual harassment scandal, and was replaced by NNP leaderMarthinus van Schalkwyk.
During the2003 floor-crossing period four members of the provincial parliament crossed to the ANC, giving it an absolute majority of 22 seats in the 42-seat house. However, the ANC remained in coalition with the NNP and van Schalkwyk remained as Premier.
In the2004 election, there was again no absolute winner in the provincial parliament; this time the ANC won 19 seats, the DA won 12, and the NNP won 5. The ANC-NNP coalition continued in power, but van Schalkwyk took up a ministerial post in the national cabinet and was replaced as Premier by the ANC'sEbrahim Rasool.
The NNP was finally dissolved after the2005 floor-crossing period and its members joined the ANC, again giving that party an absolute majority of 24 seats. In the2007 floor-crossing period the ANC gained a further three members of the provincial parliament. In 2008 Rasool resigned as Premier due to internal party politics, and was replaced byLynne Brown.
The2009 election marked a significant change in Western Cape politics, as the Democratic Alliance won 51% of the votes and an absolute majority of 22 seats in the provincial parliament, while the ANC won 14 seats with 31% of the vote. The DA leaderHelen Zille was elected Premier. In 2010 theIndependent Democrats, which had won 3 seats with 5% of the vote, merged with the DA.
In the2014 election the DA won 59% of the votes and an absolute majority of 26 seats in the provincial parliament, while the ANC won 14 seats with 32% of the vote. In 2018 King Khoebaha Cornelius III Declared the independence of the "Sovereign State of Good Hope".[42][43]
In the2019 election, the DA retained their majority in the province, but with a reduction in support. It had won 24 seats with 55%. Helen Zille was term-limited and the DA premier candidateAlan Winde succeeded her. The ANC also lost support. It had received 12 seats with 28% support, its lowest showing since 1994. Veteran politicianPeter Marais returned to the provincial parliament as the sole representative of theFreedom Front Plus. Patricia de Lille formed another party,Good, and it achieved a seat.[44]
The DA continued to win a majority of the votes in the2021 municipal elections, receiving 54% of the vote province-wide, with support in Cape Town at 58%.[45]
Since the late 2000s there has been growing support for Western Cape, or Greater Cape, independence from South Africa.[citation needed] Political parties such as theReferendum Party,Freedom Front Plus and organisations such as the Cape Independence Advocacy Group[46] and CapeXit,[47] wish to bring forth the constitutional and peaceful secession of the Western Cape.[48][49][50]
Proponents claim substantial support for the idea, with CapeXit having over 800,000 signed mandates in May 2021. Additionally, a poll conducted in 2023 by Victory Research on behalf of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group claimed that 58% of the Western Cape's registered voters would support independence, while 68% would support a referendum on the issue.[51]
The provincial parliament is responsible for legislating within its responsibilities as set out by thenational constitution; these responsibilities include agriculture, education, environment, health services, housing, language policies, tourism, trade, and welfare.
The Premier appoints ten members of the provincial legislature to serve as ancabinet of ministers, overseeing the departments of theprovincial government. These departments are Agriculture,Community Safety, Cultural Affairs and Sport, Economic Development and Tourism,Education, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning,Health, Human Settlements, Local Government, Social Development,Transport and Public Works, and the Provincial Treasury.
Politically, the Western Cape is a stronghold for theDemocratic Alliance (DA). The DA has won an absolute majority of the vote in the province in every national, provincial, and municipal election since2009.
In the following interactive map, the district and metropolitan municipalities are labelled in capital letters and shaded in various different colours. Clicking on the district on the map loads the appropriate article:
Western Cape districts and local municipalities. Clicking on the district on the map loads the appropriate article.
The Western Cape is one of South Africa's most desirable provinces in which to live, with many high net worth individuals moving to the province from elsewhere in the country in recent years (often referred to as "semigration). The province is also popular amongst those immigrating to South Africa.
Cape Town, the province's capital, has South Africa's most-desirable and most robustreal estate market.[17] In 2021, the city's property market was valued atR1.22 trillion, constituting 72% of the entire Western Cape residential property market value, and 21% of the national property market value.[54]
The Western Cape's average house price in 2024 was R2.33 million, which was well above the national average. Property market strength is also high, with property value growth at 8.7% year-on-year in January 2025, which was also significantly above the national average.[55]
Numerousaffordable housing projects have been established in theCity of Cape Town, with the development of more underway. As of 2025, a total of 10 social housing estates have been built across Cape Town, with 3 of them located within 10 kilometers ofCape Town CBD.[56]
In September 2025, the Western Cape Infrastructure Department announced that it had identified over 1,800 hectares of land for affordable housing development in the province. This includes 303 hectares of provincial government-owned land, and over 1,500 hectares of national government-owned land. The department stated that it was committed to addressing the housing backlog, but that doing so required the national government to release land.[58]
As of the third quarter of 2023, the Western Cape's total real GDP wasR656.27 billion, which equaled 14.2% of South Africa's total GDP, and real GDP per capita was R90,571.[4] The Western Cape has the third largest economy of South Africa's nine provinces, behindGauteng andKwaZulu-Natal.
The Western Cape has had the strongest-performing provincial economy in South Africa for a decade, with an average annual growth rate of around 0.87% - well above the national average. Purchasing power is also strong in the Western Cape, GDP per capita in the province is significantly higher than the national average.[59]
The province's unemployment rate was 20.2%, which is the lowest in South Africa, and considerably below the national unemployment rate of 31.9%.[4] As of 2018, the Western Cape'sHuman Development Index is the highest in South Africa at 0.741, compared to theSouth African average of 0.705.[60]
As of 2023, the biggest sector in the Western Cape's economy is the financial, business services and real estate sector, which constitutes 33.55% of gross value added, followed by manufacturing at 14.26% and wholesale and retail trade, hotels, and restaurants at 13.67%.[4]
Cape Town, the province's capital, also has a thriving tech sector (especiallyfintech). The city is home to numerous tech headquarters, including those ofYoco,Admyt,Xneelo,Jumo, Luno,Rain, and Aerobotics.
Customer service, fashion design, and advertising are industries rapidly gaining in importance in the Western Cape.[61]
Cape Town is home to the largestfilm industry in theSouthern Hemisphere,[62] with numerous international productions choosing to film on location in the city each year. A significant portion of the industry is based out of theCape Town Film Studios.
As of 2023, Cape Town accounts for a large majority (roughly 73%) of the Western Cape's GDP.[4]
95% ofwine produced in South Africa is produced in the Western Cape. South Africa is the 7th largest wine producing region in the world.[63]
The Western Cape Government, via its Growth for Jobs strategy, aims to grow the Western Cape into a R1 trillion economy by 2035, and to increase private sector investment to a total of 20% of the province's GDP.[64]
The Western Cape has an excellent network of highways comparable with any first-world country. The primary highways are theN1 (from Cape Town toThree Sisters, continuing outside the province towardsBloemfontein andJohannesburg),N2 (from Cape Town to Bloukrans River, towardsPort Elizabeth),N7 (from Cape Town to Bitterfontein, continuing towardsSpringbok andNamibia),N9 (from George to Uniondale, continuing towardsGraaff-Reinet andColesberg) andN12 (from George to Three Sisters, continuing towardsKimberley and Johannesburg).
Other routes are the "R" roads which connect the smaller towns. All major roads are tarred with major rural gravel roads well maintained. Limited access motorways are limited to the Cape Metropolitan Area, Winelands and Garden Route, however due to the low population density of the remainder of the province, the highways remain efficient and high-speed, except during peak holiday travel seasons, when travel can be slow-going in places due to heavy traffic.[citation needed]
The2022 South African census recorded the population of the Western Cape as 7,433,020 people living in 2,264,032 households.[65] As the province covers an area of 129,462 square kilometres (49,986 sq mi),[1]: 9 the population density was 45.0 inhabitants per square kilometre (117/sq mi) and the household density 12.6 per square kilometre (33/sq mi).
The age distribution of the province was as follows: 25.1% were under the age of 15, 18.3% from 15 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 5.9% who are 65 years of age or older.[1]: 28 The median age is 28 years.[67]: 20 For every 100 women there are 96 men.[67]: 18
There were 260,952 people in the province who had been born outside of South Africa, comprising 4% of the population. In 2011, 894,289 residents of the Western Cape had been born in theEastern Cape (16% of the population), 167,524 inGauteng (3%) and 61,945 (1%) inKwaZulu-Natal.[69]
Between 2001 and 2007 the Western Cape received the second-most internal migration within South Africa after Gauteng, with a large majority of these new Western Cape residents coming from the formerTranskei region of the Eastern Cape, which served as the historic native reserve of the Cape Colony and the political banishment site for native "troublemakers".[70]
90% of households in the province have aflush toilet[1]: 84 and 90% have refuse removed by the local council at least once a week.[1]: 96 75% of households have piped tap water inside the dwelling, while a further 13% have piped water on their property; 11% receive piped water at a community tap, while 1% have no access to piped water.[1]: 77 One in seven people live in an informal dwelling.[69]
86.9% of households use electricity for cooking,[1]: 84 and 93% use it for lighting.[1]: 93 89% of households have a cellphone and 31% have a landline telephone, while 86% own a television, 81% own a refrigerator, and 34% own a computer.[1]: 99 44% of households have access to the Internet.[1]: 101
Towns and main roads in the Western Cape
The average annual household income wasR143,460, the second-highest in the country afterGauteng.[67]: 37 As of September 2012[update], 69% of the population aged 15–64 are economically active, and of these 25% are unemployed. Overall, 52% of the working-age population are employed.[71]
Around 2 million people in the Western Cape labour market (those aged 16 to 64) are employed, 1.3 million are not economically active, 552,733 are unemployed with an additional 122,753 who are discouraged work seekers who want to work but have given up looking for it.[69]
2.7% of residents aged 20 and over have received no schooling, 10.7% have had only some primary, 5.6% have completed primary school but gone no further, 38% have had some secondary education without finishing Grade 12, 28% have finished Grade 12 but gone no further, and 14% have higher education beyond the secondary level. Overall, 43% of residents have completed high school.[1]: 49
According to the 2022 census, a majority of the population of the Western Cape isChristian. At 5.2% of the population, the Western Cape'sMuslim minority is the largest among South Africa's provinces.[72]
The Western Cape province has the most highly educated residents with a very skilled workforce in comparison to any other African region.[73] The high school graduation rate is consistently around 80%, higher than any other province. The proportion of adults with a degree or higher was 4.8% (2005),[61] the highest in the country.
Types of cuisine originating from the Western Cape includeDutch andMalay cuisines. Other types ofSouth African cuisine are also found and commonly enjoyed in the province. Over 50% of all cheese in South Africa is produced in the Western Cape.[74] Four of the top ten entries in Trip Advisor's BestFine Dining Restaurants – Africa list for 2021 are in the Western Cape.[75]
The Western Cape is known for its wine production and vineyards.[76] The winelands are divided intosix main regions: Boberg,Breede River Valley, Cape South Coast, Coastal Region,Klein Karoo andOlifants River. Each has unique climate, topography and fertile soil. Distilled wine orbrandy is produced in the Cape Winelands, Overberg, and Garden Route districts of the province.[77] Brandy from these regions is regarded as amongst the best in the world due to the high, legally-enforced distilling standards in the region, technically making it equivalent toCognac.[78][79]
^Compton, J. S. (2004).The Rocks and Mountains of Cape Town. pp. 24–26, 44–70. Double Storey Books, Cape Town.
^abcdMcCarthy, T., Rubridge, B. (2005).The Story of Earth and Life. pp. 188–195, 262–266. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
^abTruswell, J.F. (1977).The Geological Evolution of South Africa. pp. 93–96, 114–159. Purnell, Cape Town.
^Atlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 13. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town
^McCarthy, T.S. (2013) The Okavango delta and its place in the geomorphological evolution of Southern Africa.South African Journal of Geology 116: 1–54.
^Norman, n. & Whitfield, G. (2006).Geological Journeys. p.290-300. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
^abcdManning, John (2007). "The World of Fynbos".Field Guide to Fynbos. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. pp. 8–23.ISBN9781770072657.
^abcdTrinder-Smith, Terry (2006). "Introduction".Wild Flowers of the Table Mountain National Park. Cape Town: Botanical Society of South Africa. pp. 19–35.ISBN1874999600.
^Manning, John (2007). "Cone Bush, Tolbos".Field Guide to Fynbos. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. p. 258.ISBN9781770072657.
^Branch, M & Branch G. (1981).The Living Shores of Southern Africa. pp. 14–18. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
^Tyson, P.D., Preston-Whyte, R.A. (2000)The Weather and Climate of Southern Africa. pp. 221–223. Oxford University Press, Cape Town
^abNhesvure, B. (2020). Impacts of ENSO on coastal South African sea surface temperatures. Faculty of Science, Department of Oceanography. Retrieved fromhttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/32954/
^Charles W. Bamforth, Robert E. Ward, ed. (2014)."5.2. Brandy".The Oxford Handbook of Food Fermentations. Oxford University Press. pp. 249–252.ISBN9780199742707.
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