George: A city bursting at the seams

GEORGE NEWS - Increasingly dense traffic, overflowing schools, sprawling informal settlements and immense pressure on infrastructure are just some of the effects as more and more new families from all walks of life are welcomed into our midst every month.

George Herald spoke to residents from various sectors as well as new arrivals to gauge their take on the influx.

The city and the people: an overview

During Mayor Leon van Wyk's First Thursday virtual meeting in March, he highlighted some interesting statistics about George in a PowerPoint presentation to business representatives. Some of the information, such as the population totals, sectoral employment and cost of living, is recent (information from two years or one year ago).

With regard to the migration of people to George, the information derives from the Stats SA Community Survey of 2016 and is thus six years old. In the last six years, much has happened in our city.

What we do know, is that a total of 1 082 new municipal accounts have been opened from July 2021 to December 2021.

George: a first-class city

In 2020, George had a total population of 210 946 people. Afrikaans is the predominant language, with 65,4% of people saying it is their home language, while 26,9% speak Xhosa and 6,9% speak English.

George had an impressive 82% matric pass rate in 2019, with a 60,75% functional literacy rate for the city in 2020.

George has a sophisticated, diverse and dynamic economy, and is a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation in the Garden Route, which makes up 40,05% of the district economy.

As well as being the main economic base for the Garden Route, George had an average annual growth rate of 4,10% over the five years from 2016 to 2020, one of the highest among Western Cape municipalities.

Sectoral employment

In 2020, George's top employing sectors were finance, insurance, real estate and business services (FIREBS) sector (6 051), followed by the wholesale and retail trade, catering and the accommodation sector (WRCA).

The WRCA sector accounted for the majority of semi-skilled workers (6 408). Although the community, social and personal services sector attracted the most low-skilled workers (3 721), this was not far ahead of the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, which employed 3 614 workers classified as low-skilled.

Sectoral employment split in George, 2020.

Cost of living

The cost of living in George in 2021 was 24% lower than Cape Town and 9% lower than Gqeberha. The cost of housing in George was 40% lower than in Cape Town, while the cost of housing in Gqeberha was 18% higher than in George.

Cost of living in George compared to Cape Town and Gqeberha, 2021.

Migration

Using the 2016 community survey data as reference, it is evident that the majority of the population in George was born in the Western Cape (72,89%), while migrators from the Eastern Cape made up the second largest proportion (16,62%), followed by the Northern Cape C (1,16%) and the Free State (1,59%).

George Municipality does not currently have detailed information on recent migration patterns, and the current figures do not show the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The perceived semigration* phenomenon has also not been taken into account. Furthermore, the currently available datasets do not classify in-migration according to income level/affordability.

While there is anecdotal information indicating a marked increase, the official data shows that from 2002 till 2020 the growth rate was 1,39% per annum. However, the predicted growth rate from 2021 to 2035 is lower, estimated at 1,1%.

Migration flows into the George Municipality, 2016.