Eastern Cape

Eastern Cape demonstrates how apartheid's territorial engineering created persistent economic disadvantage. The province incorporated the former Bantustan 'homelands' of Transkei and Ciskei—territories where Black South Africans were forcibly concentrated during apartheid, stripped of economic opportunity. This path dependence explains why Eastern Cape has South Africa's lowest GDP per capita (R52,145 versus R99,423 in Gauteng): decades of deliberate underdevelopment created infrastructure deficits, skill gaps, and capital flight that post-1994 democracy cannot quickly reverse. Nelson Mandela's birthplace (Mvezo) and burial site (Qunu) give the province symbolic importance exceeding its economic weight. The automotive industry in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) represents post-apartheid industrial policy attempting to create manufacturing employment, yet the province experienced net outmigration as working-age residents seek opportunity in Gauteng and Western Cape. By 2026, Eastern Cape's trajectory depends on whether industrial investment can create jobs faster than young people leave for provinces with double the per-capita income.