Robert Laing

Robert Laing

People living in the Western Cape are on average healthier, wealthier and better educated, but have the highest crime rate in the country, a comparison of provinces by the South African Institute of Race Relations found.

Gauteng's provincial economy is the strongest, making it the wealthiest province in the country. Limpopo is the poorest province in the country, but is the safest.

The Eastern Cape has performed the worst in terms of service delivery and education.

KwaZulu-Natal has the worst health indicators and has the highest HIV-Aids infection rates in the country.

The data reflects great disparities between the provinces, with certain provinces consistently outperforming others.

This raises questions as to whether a more decentralised, province-specific approach to development should be followed.

The current centralised initiation of policies seems to have had success in certain provinces, while sidelining others in the process.