Engcobo Local Municipality claims the most youthful population, as well as the highest rates of poverty and unemployment, in the Chris Hani District Municipality, coupled with a high dependency ratio. The economy is underperforming and currently fails to create needed jobs and revenues. A dedicated LED strategy has been developed in order to guide interventions in turning this situation around. The municipality’s low productivity score points to the low GDP per worker (formal and informal), a relative shortage of skills available to the economy, and low growth. On a broad scale, the Engcobo Municipality has some striking features: it is a peripheral area in terms of the national economy, is underdeveloped, has a fragmented settlement pattern, has a low-density rural settlement environment, and its resource base is under pressure. On the scale of urban development, Engcobo Town is classified as a Sub-District Development Node by CHDM (i. e. it is amongst a group of towns deemed to be o

Lukhanji Local Municipality covers a wide area consisting of Queenstown CBD and townships such as Mlungisi, Lesseyton, Izingquthu, Westbourne, Madeira Park, Kings Park, Top Town and Central. On the eastern side there is Ezibeleni township, Tylden, Gwatyu farms, and Ilinge township, and on the western side there is Whittlesea CBD, with a number of rural villages. The Lukhanji municipal area has been declared an economic hub due to its strategic positioning in the Chris Hani District Municipality. Lukhanji is positioned right in the middle of the national corridors to the Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Free State provinces. It is developed with the relevant infrastructure so that modes of transport such as railway, road and a small airport are available to be utilised. Cities / Towns: Queenstown, Sada, Whittlesea