Cape Town
VOC supply station (1652) became SA's legislative capital. Now outperforming: 52% of new national jobs 2019-24, highest incomes, lowest unemployment—almost a separate economy.
Cape Town exists because Table Mountain exists—specifically, because the Fresh River running down from the mountain provided water that ships sailing between Europe and Asia couldn't find anywhere else along the African coast. In 1652, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) sent Jan van Riebeeck to establish a refreshment station: vegetables, meat, and fresh water for the spice fleets. He built a fort and planted a garden. The Company's Garden is still a park in central Cape Town.
What started as a supply depot became a colony. The VOC imported slaves from Indonesia, Madagascar, and India; by the time Britain permanently annexed the Cape in 1814, enslaved labor had built the infrastructure and grown the food. The abolition of slavery in 1834 freed over 5,500 people in Cape Town alone, but the patterns of settlement and segregation persisted through apartheid and beyond. Cape Town became South Africa's legislative capital—one of three capitals in a country that couldn't agree on one.
Today, Cape Town outperforms the rest of South Africa by almost every measure. The Western Cape added 86,000 jobs in 2025 while the national trend stagnated. Between 2019 and 2024, the province generated 52.2% of all net new employment in the country despite having a fraction of the population. The city has South Africa's highest average household income, lowest unemployment, and strongest property market. Financial services account for 22% of output; tech is growing 8% annually; R15 billion flowed into green economy investments in 2024.
By 2026, Cape Town operates almost as an alternative South Africa—a city that works while others struggle. Whether that's sustainable success or a recipe for political backlash depends on whether the rest of the country can close the gap.