Capital District of Gauteng
Talk0this wiki
| Gauteng | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Capital territory — | |||
| Capital District of Gauteng | |||
 |
|||
|
|||
| Motto: "Unity in diversity." | |||
 |
|||
| Country | Southern African Confederacy | ||
| Named for | Sesotho term for "Place of Gold." | ||
| Government | |||
| - Type | Mayor-city council | ||
| - Mayor | Armand Du Preez | ||
| Population (2012) | |||
| - Total | 11,500,000 | ||
The Capital District of Gauteng (Capital District, Gauteng or CDG) is the capital territory of the Southern African Confederacy. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994. It was initially named Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging (or PWV) and was renamed 'Capital District of Gauteng' in December 1994. The area had always been one large megalopolis, with Pretoria, Johannesburg and Vereeniging basically being one continuous urban region. The CDG is a combined city-territory.
Contents |
Etymology 
Edit
The name Gauteng comes from the Sesotho word meaning "Place of Gold", the historical Sesotho name for Johannesburg and surrounding areas. This referred to the thriving gold industry in the province following the 1886 discovery of gold in Johannesburg. The Sesotho word is a locative derived from the Afrikaans word "goud" (gold), plus the locative suffix "-ng." When properly pronounced, the first letter of the name Gauteng is a voiceless velar fricative, pronounced similarly to the "ch" in the German "achtung" or Scottish "loch" and the same as the Dutch "g" or the Spanish "g" as in "gente." This pronunciation is natural in both the Sesotho and Afrikaans languages.
History Edit
Gauteng, formerly known as "Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging (PWV)", was carved out of the old Transvaal Province in 1994, although the terminology "PWV", describing the region existed long before that. Tokyo Sexwale (pronounced sek-wah-le) was elected as the first South African Premier of the province that same year. Politically, it has been dominated by the African National Congress throughout its post-Apartheid history.
The region became politically neutral on 31 July 2001 when the Confederacy's Parliament declared the capital should become exclusive confederate territory. All South African parliamentary wards were removed and South Africa's control over the province was basically nullified. The district remained one of South Africa's nine provinces for historic and cultural reasons. In January 2012, however, when the Republic of South Africa was drastically reformed and divided, the CDG became a completely independent region of the Confederacy, and is not one of the country's confederate divisions.
Law and government Edit
The CDG follows an American-style mayor-city council form of governance, even though it consists of several usually independent cities. Each city has a city councilor, which was formerly a mayor of that city, and the entire district has a directly elected mayor. The Parliament has indirect control over the district, and thus, unlike other confederate divisions, its laws are always applicable here. The current mayor is Armand Du Preez.
Cities Edit
Several cities exist within the Capital District, each having a councilor on the Gauteng City Council:
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Ekurhuleni
- Sedibeng
- Rand City
Education Edit
Gauteng was a center of learning in independent South Africa, and had many universities and other schools of higher learning. When Gauteng became the Capital District, confusion ensued for learners. It was cleared up quickly, however, and the students were able to resume learning. A list of universities follows:
- University of Limpopo
- Tshwane University of Technology
- University of Johannesburg
- African Leadership Academy
- University of Pretoria
- University of the Confederacy (formerly known as the University of South Africa)
- Vaal University of Technology
- University of the Witwatersrand
- Monash University South Africa Campus
