Socio-Economic & Demographic Profile:
Ukhahlamba District Municipality

Background:

The Ukhahlamba District is situated in the north of the Eastern Cape forming the border with the Free State.

The district is land-locked and dominated by mountains. It is made up of the former Cape Provincial Administration (CPA) areas and areas of the Karoo, as well as parts of the former Transkei homeland in the North-east. The Ukhahlamba district municipality incorporates the former magisterial districts of Maclear and Mt Fletcher (Elundini); Barkley East, Lady Grey and Sterkspruit (Senqu); Aliwal North and Jamestown (Malethswai); as well as Albert, Burgersdorp, Steynsburg and Venterstad (Gariep).

The population density of Ukhahlamba is 13 people per square kilometre which is second lowest population density in the province. Most people live in Elundini and Senqu which incorporate the former Transkei areas of Mt. Fletcher and Sterkspruit respectively. Relatively small numbers of people live in Malethswai and Gariep.

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The Ukhahlamba district is a comparatively poor district in terms of poverty measures such as HDI (0.48), poverty gap (425 million) and number of people living in poverty (78.6%).

The population is predominantly African (94.1%). The coloured population makes 2.4% of the population.

The Ukhahlamba district, like most other districts, shows a significant child dependency. About 39% of the population are below 15 years of age. More than half of the population is below 20 years. This is an indication of economic under development of this district.

Women outnumber men in the Ukhahlamba district municipality: 47% of the population are males and 53% are females.
 

Population Pyramid:

click to enlarge

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Area Information:

Square km – 25,553
Total Population - 341,339 (349,359 –1996)
Male - 158,967 (46.6%)
Female - 182,343 (53.4%)
Africans - 321,265 (94.1%)
Coloured - 11,588 (3.4%)
Indian - 84 (0.02%)
White - 8,375 (2.5%)
0-4 Years - 35,285 (10.3%)
0-9 Years - 80,601 (23.6%)
0-14 years – 132,014 (38.7%)
0-19 Years – 178,366 (52.3%)
15-34 Years – 110,697 (32.4%)
35-59 Years - 63,684 (18.7%)
Females 60+ - 22,151
Males 65+ - 8,910
Number of disabled (Estimate) – 24,237 (7,1%)
Human Development Index (HDI) - 0.48
Persons in poverty - 78,6%
Poverty Gap = R 425 million
Literacy rate = 46.2%
HIV/AID Prevalence – N/A
Prominent occupation – Elementary (40,4%)
Biggest Employer - Public/Gov Sector (25.7%)
Unemployment rate – 53,4%
Not economically active – 60,3%
Number of households – 84,703
Annual Household Income 0-R6000 – 65.4 %
Annual Household Income 0-R18000 – 87.5%
Annual Household Income 0-R42000 - 94.4%

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