John Loos argues that South Africa’s growing focus on Gauteng and Johannesburg’s infrastructure and service-delivery crisis is necessary, but incomplete. His central point is that Gauteng should not be viewed only through its political boundaries. Economically, it forms part of a much larger inland region whose weaknesses are feeding directly into Gauteng’s pressures.

Using the analogy of Brazil’s over-reliance on Neymar during the 2014 World Cup, Loos warns that South Africa has too few regional “stars”. For years, Gauteng and the Western Cape have carried much of the country’s growth and employment burden, attracting people in search of opportunity. Between 2011 and 2022, both provinces recorded the strongest net population inflows, while Gauteng’s working-age population grew by 22.1% and the Western Cape by 21.9%.

The concern is that Gauteng’s ability to absorb labour has weakened significantly. Its labour absorption ratio has fallen from 57.1 in 2008 to 44.3 in early 2026, while the Western Cape has recovered to 55.7. This suggests that Gauteng is no longer creating jobs fast enough to keep pace with population growth.

Loos stresses that Gauteng’s challenges are also linked to weaker neighbouring provinces: Mpumalanga, Free State, Limpopo and North West. Together with Gauteng, these inland provinces account for nearly 60% of the national GDP, 56.2% of manufacturing and almost 90% of mining. If these regions underperform, they reduce demand for Gauteng’s services while increasing migration pressure into the province.

His conclusion is that fixing Johannesburg and Gauteng is vital, but not enough. South Africa needs stronger, smaller cities and regional economies to spread population pressure, deepen economic “squad depth” and rebuild national growth capacity. Older regional problems, he warns, are no less important simply because they have been neglected for longer.