Newsletter 137 - Limpopo and the Eastern Cape rely more on grants than on salaries
This newsletter lists the proportions of households relying on the two major income sources in South Africa: salaries and grants. In the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, grants are the dominant source of income. Gauteng and the Western Cape, which have bigger economies, are at the fore of provinces whose households depend chiefly on salaries.
Households in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape rely more on social grants than on salaries. So reports Statistics South Africa’s General Household Survey 2010, published earlier this month. However, salaries continue to be the major national household income source, ahead of grants. (A household may have more than one source of income, so proportions do not add up to 100%.)
Some 58% of Limpopo’s 1 390 000 households depend mainly on grants for their upkeep, while 45% are maintained largely by salaries.
The Eastern Cape has just over 56% of its 1 780 000 households relying largely on grants and 49% on salaries.
The other seven provinces show greater reliance on salaries than on grants, with the Western Cape and Gauteng having the highest proportions.
In the Western Cape, 75% of all 1 530 000 households depend on salaries. Grants are the prevalent source of income in 36% of households in the province.
Gauteng has 74% of its 3 680 000 households relying on salaries. Grants are the major income source in 30%.
About 63% of just over 1 000 000 households in Mpumalanga earn salaries. Grants are the main income in 49% of households.
In the Northern Cape, 61% of the province’s 320 000 households are mostly dependent on salaries. Just over 52% depend on grants as the major source of income.
The North West has slightly less than 61% of its 980 000 households depending on salaries while 49% rely primarily on grants.
In the Free State, 60% of the 885 000 households fall back on salaries. Just fewer than 52% bank on grants.
Finally, KwaZulu-Natal has 59% of its 2 700 000 households relying mainly on salaries. About 50% get by for the most part on grants.
More than 62% of all 14 300 000 households in South Africa are maintained mainly by salaries. Grants are the largest source of income in 45% of the country’s households.
- Thuthukani Ndebele
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